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Space Elevator

(neal.fun)
1773 points kaonwarb | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.287s | source
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jvanderbot ◴[] No.45643427[source]
Very cool. One thing I wish was better shown: space is close, it's just hard to go up. Our liveable breathable atmosphere is razor thin compared to the size of earth.

In most cases, 100km is less than the distance between sizeable metropolitan areas. It's a day long bike ride. Air runs out less than a bus ride across town. A 15k jog/hike would put you in the stratosphere. Those jet aircraft that seem so high are closer than that. Closer than your friends house or the local stadium probably.

Look at a map or globe with that in mind and everything feels so thin!

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amflare ◴[] No.45646338[source]
For a standard globe that you might see in a classroom, the Earth's atmosphere is about as thick as the paper glued to the outside that displays the map.
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1. andersa ◴[] No.45646659[source]
That's a fascinating comparison, never seen it visualized like that before.