01. How long would it take to get to the edge of space with a space plane like SpaceShipOne? How long would the round trip take? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Jump to: navigation, search

The edge of space is defined as an altitude of 62 miles above the Earth—this is where the Earth's atmosphere ceases to become a factor. It took SpaceShipOne 60 minutes to get into space. This involved a stage where a plane carried the spacecraft to a height of 52,480 feet, then the spaceship rocket engines fired, and the rest of the journey was carried out like a standard rocket launch. The whole trip took 90 minutes including a full three minutes of weightlessness! If you mean the edge of space as in the edge of the Universe, then that's a very different question, but the short answer would be that the journey would take a very, very long time—a far longer time than there have been humans on the Earth! We cannot even see the edge of the Universe today as some parts are so far away the light from them has not had time to reach us yet! There are many things about the Universe that we still do not understand, and its shape is one of them. It is even possible that there is no 'edge of space' like we think of it.

Answer provided by Hazel McAndrews


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer


Buy This Book Click here

Retrieved from "http://www.thespacelibrary.com/mediawiki/index.php/01._How_long_would_it_take_to_get_to_the_edge_of_space_with_a_space_plane_like_SpaceShipOne%3F_How_long_would_the_round_trip_take%3F_%28A_K2S_Question%29"