Elon Musk Emphasizes Distinct Nature Of Space and Orbit In Twitter Exchange

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that there is a ‘big difference’ between space and orbit.

The CEO was responding to a video posted by a Twitter user seeking to explain the difference between the two. The user wrote, “Getting to space is mostly about going up and getting out of the atmosphere, but getting into orbit requires a LOT of energy in the form of ludicrous amounts of velocity.”

Musk reaffirmed this and said, “Yup, big difference.”

Space Vs. Orbit: Though there is no sharp physical boundary separating space from Earth’s atmosphere, for the sake of spaceflight, Space is imagined to start at the Karman line. The Karman line is assumed at an altitude of 60 miles and marks the ‘edge of space.’

The orbit, however, is a regular, repeating path that an object in space takes around another. The easiest orbit to get to around Earth is the low-Earth orbit which is the first 100 to 200 miles of space. The International Space Station is in low Earth orbit and so are numerous Starlink satellites.

Musk has previously sought to explain the difference between the two. He paralleled space to the boundary of the international waters for the Pacific Ocean. “Like if you go 100 miles offshore, you are technically out of coastal waters, now you are in the [Pacific],” Musk said. However, “Orbit is like circumnavigating the globe,” he added.

Photo Courtesy: Shutterstock.com

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