03 · Flight · 5 min
Leave the planet without cheating
Climb from mountains through atmospheric layers to orbit, the Moon and the gulf between planets.
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01
Opening coordinate · Monumental · Architecture
The tallest building
Burj Khalifa · 828 mHuman engineering reaches less than one kilometre above the ground.
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02
First threshold · Monumental · Earth
The highest summit
Mount Everest · 8,848.86 mEverest reaches almost nine kilometres above sea level, still deep inside the atmosphere.
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03
Perspective shift · Planetary · Atmosphere
The weather layer
Troposphere · ≈12 km highMost weather and most atmospheric mass sit below the top of the troposphere.
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04
Perspective shift · Planetary · Atmosphere
A conventional edge
Kármán line · 100 km highThe Kármán line at one hundred kilometres is a useful definition, not a physical wall.
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05
Deep crossing · Planetary · Spaceflight
Low Earth orbit
International Space Station orbit · ≈408 km highThe International Space Station orbits only a few hundred kilometres above the surface.
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06
Revelation · Planetary · Solar system
The planet beneath
Earth · 12,742 kmEarth’s diameter is more than thirty times the station’s typical altitude.
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07
Revelation · Stellar · Distance
The first great gap
Earth–Moon distance · ≈384,400 kmThe Moon is separated from Earth by a distance large enough to hold every planet side by side.
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08
Return signal · Planetary · Solar system
A world, not a dot
The Moon · 3,474.8 kmThe Moon itself is almost 3,500 kilometres wide, but occupies little of the Earth–Moon gap.
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09
Return signal · Stellar · Distance
Sunlight takes minutes
One astronomical unit · 149.6 million kmOne astronomical unit is the average Earth–Sun distance; light crosses it in about eight minutes and twenty seconds.
1011100% completeImage source ↗
Expedition complete
You crossed 8.3 orders of magnitude.
The route began at Burj Khalifa and ended at One astronomical unit. The next step is to place both endpoints inside the same comparison engine and inspect what the raw ratio means.