Q: How many miles above Earth would you have to go to be in space? What would the conditions be like?
—Eddie Webster, Douglasville
A: Space is considered to begin at 62 miles above sea level, what is called the Karman Line, but the U.S. Air Force gives astronaut wings to those who travel above 50 miles, Slate.com reported.
There isn’t a distinct boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space.
“As we go up and up and up and up, through the atmosphere, it just becomes less and less dense,” astrophysicist Kevin Pimbblet told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2010.
Low Earth orbit is considered to be 100-200 miles above earth, according to NASA.com, and the International Space Station generally orbits about 250 miles above Earth, the European Space Agency states on its website (www.esa.int).
There is a lack of oxygen and “temperatures in space can range from the extremely cold, hundreds of degrees below freezing, to many hundreds of degrees above — especially if a spacecraft ventures close to the sun,” the ESA states.
Q: How can Rio de Janeiro in the Southern Hemisphere host the Summer Olympics during its winter?
—Laura Dabundo, Marietta
A: Rio de Janeiro's average August temperature is around 72 degrees with highs in the high 70s and lows into the 60s at night, according to Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology.
August also is one of the driest months in Brazil.
The 2016 Summer Olympics are scheduled for Aug. 5-21.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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