Are we certain there is a moment before that date that every single one of the ~6 billion people isn't mid jump?
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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Literally a leap second
Or on an airplane
Maybe we can amend the definition of "on Earth" to "inside the atmosphere" for purpose of that tweet
No! We most dive deeper into Achually Land!
Mariana trench
How far does "the atmosphere" go? Because technically the ISS is in the thermosphere, which is part of Earth's atmosphene.
Already, let's go with the karman line like everyone usually does.
I'd go with the mesosphere, because that's where meteors burn up. That's a little below the karman line and is defined by actual qualities, instead of an arbitrary number. Regardless, both exclude the ISS. :)
Are you an astrophysicist?
No, just your garden variety nerd.
I would go with what the professionals use.
But "the professionals" don't agree. Most notably, the US Air Force says you're an astronaut if you go above 80km (approx the start of the thermosphere), and NASA switched to that standard too. At 80-90km, you can sustain an elliptic orbit, and around 150km, you can sustain a circular orbit.
The 100km Karman line doesn't signify anything, it's just a nice multiple of 10 that's pretty close to more important points. It's not based on science, the original science by Karman was the highest theoretical height for an airplane, which was just over 80km, it's just a nice number close to actual science.
So no, I'm not just going to accept 100km "because science."
Ok
No human has ever been not gravitationally bound to the earth. So really this type of showerthought seems to be too early. If we send astronauts to Mars, it will be easier to say they have been separated from Earth.
I like this.
It's really the only non arbitrary answer.
Yeah, that's probably a better metric.
Would you count a permanent base on the moon? I think it should, since you'd be more impacted by the moon's gravity than Earth's, despite still being in Earth's orbit.
The moon and everything on it is gravitationally bound to the earth. So I would not count a moon base as having escaped the Earth.
So, is the next set of goalposts that we need to except the solar system?
Planes are supported by the gas that is part of Earth, it's not a lot different to boats that are supported by Earth's water
Well duh, at nighttime when everyone is asleep
My bedridden grandmother is ruining it for us all
Also: air travel is a thing
Yeah, but if you were born after 2000, you’d be too young to even appreciate that fa… fa… …fuck, I’m old.
There were people born after the year 2000 that are allowed to vote. I'm not standing for this.
I used to be in firearm sales. First time I sold a gun to someone born in 2000 I had an instant midlife crisis.
But how many of them are actually going to exercise that right? Hopefully lots but history shows that usually isn't the case.
I was born in 2007, so as of next year: me. My country has mandatory voting anyway, so I don't have a choice in the matter, but I would even if I did
I know I did anyway!
There are 30 year olds born after grunge died
Where is the line between “on Earth” and not? If you’re orbiting the planet does that still count? Do you have to be below a certain altitude? Certainly flying in an airplane isn’t enough to qualify as having left Earth. Is it leaving the earth’s atmosphere? Is that even something with a precise enough definition?
I guess what I’m saying is we should exile Elon to Mars and then start the timer.
It depends upon the definition of "on", I suppose.
If jumping or falling count as not being "on" earth, the fact is not true since there is (a) almost no chance with so many people that one person (probably a child) somewhere wasn't jumping or falling and (b) we can't definitively prove things one way or the other with regard to (a).
If we do say "OK, human-body-powered times not in contact with earth don't count" (assuming the human is responsible here for cases where they fall, for simplicity), we would have to move on to vehicles. Driving a vehicle that contacts the ground seems pretty "on earth". I suppose boats would as well. What about planes, thought? They're definitely "in the air" when they're not "on the ground" (I'm sticking with English here since the post is in English; we could open another can of ~~words~~ worms for other languages).
So next we have to say "things flying in the atmosphere don't count" then we have to either define atmosphere or define an arbitrary line of Xkm above the average surface of earth. In the case of the former, how much atmosphere counts as atmosphere?
I guess we could move on to gravity well after that.
define atmosphere or define an arbitrary line of Xkm above the average surface of earth.
100km. Atmosphere is a gradient so yes it's entirely arbitrary.
If a person fell into the singularity of a black hole that had particles from our atmosphere, are we back to on earth again? (My vote is "s/he dead and no even if not", but I think it's interesting to think about).
They're dead but when were they dead?
It's pretty easy to draw a line at orbit at any altitude. If you are staying aloft by moving fast enough that a straight line in the planet's gravity well forms a closed ellipse, or faster, that excludes jumping (and every other sorry of suborbital movement), flying, floating (on water or in air; nothing we have made our can imagine can float on air)
Orbit is different to everything not orbital in a more significant way than other modes are different to each other
I think you can even word your way around how flying is on Earth, in that you're supported by the gaseous part of Earth, just like a boat is supported by the wet part of Earth
You cannot get out of Earth's gravity. Gravity stretches out to the edge of the observable universe though it gets pretty weak outside the solar system
For NASA and the U.S. military, for example, space starts at an altitude of 50 miles (around 80 kilometers), according to NOAA. However to the international community, including the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), space starts a little higher, at 62 miles (100 km), at the Kármán line
Is it a factoid or is it a fact? Because the two are mutually exclusive.
Oh wait, I think you're right.
Fixing the title now.
It’s uhh, literally used like that so often it’s almost correct now
That's what threw me off, but I decided to change it anyway for clarity.
Good man
I haven't heard of dead people coming back to love on October 31st 2000 for one day only
Yeah but they will come back to hate
Tina can dream.
"at least one"? Wouldn’t want to be that person
There was no one on the ISS?