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Friday 1 August 2014

What Altitude Can You See the Curvature of Earth?

From Felix Baumgartner's daredevil skydive to teddy bears we've sent into space we're all familiar with the Earth's characteristic curvature. 100km from the Earth's surface is usually taken as where space begins - but Felix's jump was at around 24 miles (39 km), well under the height that space is considered to begin. So the answer is - no one really knows! Although passengers on board Concorde did see the curvature of Earth at altitudes of about 60,000ft. Although this gives a pretty clear indication of the figures, this can be distorted by plane windows for example. Because of this debate, research has taken place to determine the real figures. After much deliberation the real altitude is around 35,000 ft  - so next time you take a plane ride see if you can see the curvature of Earth! 







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