[FPSPACE] FPSPACE Digest, Vol 62, Issue 12

[Raghavan Gopalaswami]

This is a reply to :

Message: 4
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:06:09 +0200
From: "Alex Michael Bonnici" <albonnici at vol.net.mt>
Subject: [FPSPACE] Quantum Limit.com: Now We Know - The Final Frontier
    Begins At 73 Miles
To: "FPSPACE" <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
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If one is venturing to the final frontier, it would be nice to know where it actually begins. Space has a definition ? it is that point where the earth's atmosphere officially ends and the vacuum of space officially begins. In aerodynamic terms, it is that point where there is no longer any lift on aerodynamic structures ? such as the wings of aircraft. 

NASA has a true need to know where this is for the purposes of piloting the Space Shuttle and their equations define the boundary layer at 62 miles and the shuttle?s performance is plenty good with this definition. 
 
Reply follows:
 
For Mr Alex Michael Bonnici: please see this news article below....it confirms by measurement that the edge of space is 118 kms and this number is closer to the "Quantum Limit" of 73 miles (116.8 km) rather than the NASA "Boundary Layer" estimate of 62 miles (99.2 km)
 

From:
Times of India
Monday, April 13, 2009
 
Space Starts 118km from earth
 
A new tool created by scientists has helped them pinpoint the ‘edge of space”,118 km above sea level.
 
It is the point where the relatively gentle winds of earth’s atmosphere give way to more violent flows of charged particles in outer space, exceeding the speed of 1000kmph. 
 
Data from the University of Calgary-designated instrument which was sent on board a Nasa launch from Alaska nearly two years ago made this feat possible. The instrument known as Supra-Thermal Ion Imager, carried by the JOULE-2 rocket on Jan 19, 2007, collected data for the five minutes it was moving through this window, at an altitude of 200km.
 
The ability to gather data in that area is significant as it’s very difficult to make measurements in that region, which is too high for balloons and too low for satellites. The measurements confirmed what other scientists consider the boundary or edge of space, said a Calgary release - IANS









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