How Far Is Space From Earth

By the same token space is often defined as beginning at the lowest altitude at which satellites can maintain orbits for a reasonable time which is approximately 160 kilometers 100 miles above.

How far is space from earth. The number of miles required to reach outer space depends on whom is asked. The space industry lists 62 miles. Periodically the space station must fire its thrusters to avoid spiraling into the earth. Earth is the blueish white speck.

Even at an altitude of about 250 miles above the surface of the earth which is the altitude at which the international space station orbits the earth there are enough air molecules to slow the craft down over time. The deeper we see into space the more galaxies we discover. Nasa sets the boundary at 76 miles. It s a photograph of earth taken on february 14 1990 by the voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers 3 7 billion miles.

Others place the marker at an astronomical 13 million miles. Outer space does not begin at a definite altitude above the earth s surface. The kármán line or karman line lies at an altitude of 100 kilometres 62 mi above the earth s sea level and commonly represents the boundary between the earth s atmosphere and outer space. The kármán line an altitude of 100 km 62 mi above sea level is conventionally used as the start of outer space in space treaties and for aerospace records keeping.

Other definitions are possible. The most widely accepted definition is 100 kilometres 62 miles. There are billions of galaxies the most distant of which are so far away that the light arriving from them on earth today set out from the galaxies billions of years ago. The shortest distance between earth and space is about 62 miles 100 kilometers straight up which by general accord is where the planet s boundary ends and suborbital space begins.