[USMA:30227] Re: SpaceShipOne

[MightyChimp]

Title: Re: [USMA:30201] Re: SpaceShipOne

I'd love to, but to whom?  What are the chances that the person who responds would respond from authority or just assume it is statute.  Just because someone works for NASA does not make them Rocket Scientists.  There are a lot there who are ordinary people who are just as innumerate as the average FFU-ist.   I was hoping someone on this list who has contact with maybe an engineer at NASA would be able to say with certainty which way it is.   Euric       ----- Original Message ----- From: Pat Naughtin To: Mighty Chimp ; U.S. Metric Association Sent: Wednesday, 2004-06-23 18:22 Subject: Re: [USMA:30201] Re: SpaceShipOne Dear Euric, Why don’t you send this question to NASA? I’m sure that they would be delighted to answer it. Cheers, Pat Naughtin LCAMS Geelong, Australia -- on 2004-06-23 22.07, MightyChimp at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm replying to my own post with a question. Does anyone know if NASA's intended definition of the edge of space at 50 miles is 50 miles statute or nautical?  One converts to 80.5 km and the other to 92.6 km.  Of course the average person on the street does not the difference between the two or that there is even a difference.  But I was under the impression that NASA's use of miles was nautical in nature and thus the edge of space as defined by NASA should be about 93 km.  The nautical definition puts the boundary much closer to the accepted metric definition. Euric       Here was something that appeared in the local paper this  morning: The competition, which began in 1996, has attracted more  then two dozend teams from around the world.  It requires contestants to  fly three people to an altitude of 62 miles [should have read 100 km] and then  to repeat the flight with the same craft within two weeks.  The  boundary of space is not well defined; NASA gives astronaut status to anyone  who has flown higher then 50 miles, but some European authorities mark the  border at 62 miles.  The X prize founders chose 62 miles.