Rick Kohnert, the program manager for LASP’s small satellite initiatives, considers the altitude at which space begins to be where the human eye can no longer discern airglow-an eerie, often emerald-green light visible from high above the Earth. Since Branson’s and Bezos’ flights are both occurring in the summer, she considers 55 miles to be the altitude they need to achieve to earn their astronaut wings-a threshold that Branson’s VSS Unity did not quite reach. This boundary is just above where Earth’s highest clouds form, and its location varies by season, ranging from about 55 miles above the Earth in summer to 60-62 miles in the winter. LASP atmospheric chemist Cora Randall considers the edge of space to be the lower boundary of the thermosphere-an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere where there are too few molecules to transfer radiation efficiently. Other experts define the edge of space differently. This definition suggests that Branson didn’t quite reach the final frontier. The change from the yellow, light blue, and dark blue regions of Earth’s atmosphere to the black backdrop of outer space occurs at an altitude of about 62 miles, she says. “I’ve always thought of the edge of space to be where, when looking at the Earth edge on, things go black,” says Lynn Harvey, who studies the dynamics of the middle atmosphere. Should both billionaires be considered astronauts? The answer to this question depends upon your definition of outer space-and that can vary widely, say scientists and engineers from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics(LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Yet the international governing body for aeronautic and astronautic records defines the boundary as 62 miles (100 kilometers), suggesting that Branson’s flight, which reached 53.5 miles, didn’t quite make it into outer space.īecause Jeff Bezos is scheduled to fly above 62 miles-a theoretical boundary known as the Kármán Line-on July 20, he’ll also be able to claim that he’s the first billionaire to fly his own craft into outer space. Air Force, and the Federal Aviation Administration consider to begin 50 miles (80 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface. Shortly after Richard Branson’s VSS Unity spaceship successfully touched down in New Mexico last Sunday, the billionaire and his crewmates were awarded shiny astronaut wings to pin onto their cobalt-colored flight suits.Īstronaut wings are an honor given to people who have completed a flight in space, which NASA, the U.S. The lack of a uniform definition of where space begins has scientific and engineering implications that extend well beyond which billionaire gets there first. Bezos: who wins the race depends on your definition of outer space
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