2007-02-01 06:17:20 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale defines space as starting at 100 km above the surface of the Earth (sea level), the US recognizes anyone who travels above 80 km to be an astronaut, and at about 120 km is where drag becomes noticeable for spacecraft reentering the atmosphere. So it's either about 328,084 feet, 262,467 feet, or 393,701 feet (all rounded to the nearest foot), depending on your definition.
2007-02-01 06:29:46 · answer #1 · answered by gamblin man 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
327,360 ft (=62 miles or 100 Km)
The boundary is actually just an arbitrary point selected by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, called the Kármán line.
This is the altitude to which SpaceShip One flew twice in quick succession to win the Ansari X prize for the first privately launched reusable space ship.
Facts like these can be found quickly using Wikipedia - just type "outer space" and wiki into a search engine like Yahoo! for a link.
2007-02-01 14:36:05 · answer #2 · answered by Space-Age 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The crossover point is 326,360 Feet, or 62 miles in general terms. Some go a little farther because they are talking in Km
and the math takes you to 327,000 some odd feet. Anyone who
has gone that high is an Astronaut, however it was done.
We are talking very thin atmosphere up there but not a real vacuum...just darn close to it. And, since there is not much
up there, it is verrry cold. There is nothing to heat up, and the
absence of heat is "cold."
2007-02-01 15:17:33 · answer #3 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most agree that the edge of Earth's atmosphere is about 60-70 miles up.
Thats about 316,800 - 369,600 feet...
However, Earth's atmosphere doesn't really have a defined "edge". The atmosphere just gradually tapers off into space, getting thinner and thinner until there is effectively 0 atmosphere.
2007-02-01 14:26:57 · answer #4 · answered by AresIV 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋