AUTHOR’S NOTE: Since this was
originally written for the Oklahoman
newspaper, I used reference points in Oklahoma. So, I’ve added the distances to
the streets/cities listed here so you can figure out the same for wherever you
live.
Now that restrictions related to
the COVID-19 pandemic have been relaxed, I imagine a lot of folks are out and
about. Perhaps you are walking more, going to the park again, or even taking
trips to some of our state’s great outdoor attractions.
Here’s a trip idea: walk to the top
of Mt. Everest, the tallest point on Earth. Or to the bottom of the Mariana
Trench, the lowest point on Earth. Think those are impossible walks? Of course, they are, but you can walk a simulation of those trips.
The summit of Mt. Everest is five
and a half miles above sea level. That would be about the same as walking north
along May Avenue from Reno to Grand Boulevard (5.8 miles, 9.3 km). The average
person walks two to three miles per hour (3.2 – 4.8 km/hour), so such a walk
would only take about two hours.
Mt. Everest
Credit Benjamin Oppenheimer and USGS
The Mariana Trench is just under
seven miles deep, about the same as walking south on May south from Reno to SW
104th street (7 miles, 11.3 km), a walking trip taking less than
three hours. When you get there, you can turn around and walk for five hours
north all the way back to Grand, and you have walked the entire vertical relief
of planet Earth. That doesn’t seem so far when you think of it like that.
Schematic of Mt. Everest with Mariana Trench, Credit Daily Mail
How about we go even farther, to
the edge of space? By general agreement, space scientists define the edge of
space, what’s known as the Kármán Line, as 62 miles (100 kilometers) above sea
level. I know I could not easily walk that far. And even if I could, it would
take more than a day to do so.
So, let’s drive. Hop in your car
and drive to Weatherford, 110 miles (177 km) west of Oklahoma City, a bit less
than half-way to the Texas Border. You passed the Karman Line at Hydro and are
now ten miles (16.1 km) into space. Keep driving on to Amarillo, a total of 259
miles (416.8 km), and you’ve reached the cruising altitude of the International
Space Station (254 miles, 408.8 km).
Who knew that if you turned west at
the Amarillo Junction (the junction of I-44 and I-40), you’d be heading to the
ISS?
Each month, I write an
astronomy-related column piece for the Oklahoman newspaper. After it is
published there, I post that same column to my blog page.
This is reprinted by permission from the Oklahoman and www.newsok.com.
