Where Does Space Begin?

Star Trek sonorously announces before each episode: “Space…the final frontier.” But where exactly does that frontier lie?

Well, according to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the world governing body for this sort of thing, outer space begins 100 kilometers (roughly 62 miles) above sea level. This barrier is called the Kármán Line. Above that, the air is too thin for a vehicle to maintain altitude. So…once you’ve crossed Kármán, you’ve been to space.

Ah, but now the USAF weighs in. By military standards, Space starts 12 miles sooner, or 50 miles above sea level. For Americans, crossing that threshold makes a pilot an astronaut.

All of which gave NASA a bit of a headache. During the 1960s, 8 American test pilots flew the experimental X-15 above the 50-mile mark, but only 5 of them passed Kármán. Astronauts all by American military definition, but to the FAI, 3 hadn’t even been to space.

For nearly 40 years, NASA waffled on whether to recognize these X-15 pilots as astronauts. Then in 2005 the agency relented, finally awarding astronaut wings to the remaining three.

This info, including the illustration, was shamelessly copped from the March/April 2021 issue of Mental_Floss.

The Creationist’s Chalice by Nikki McLean

This recent entry into the world of fantasy has a lot going for it – not the least of which is it’s cover! Whoever coined the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” was obviously blind to the literary industry. This cover grabbed me right away and did not disappoint. I failed to find a credit for the art, but someone working for the Athena Press of Twickenham, England, was truly inspired.

The premise: a young girl named Lindsay discovers that the fairy tale world of Dalkana not only exists, but was created by her ancestors. Mystically guided through the portal from modern day Scotland, Lindsay is instantly confronted by her true identity as the Fifth Creator, a god to the peoples who live there. This she learns from the first being she meets, a surly archer named Dalgarno who harbors a hatred for the Creators.

While struggling with this new reality, Lindsay finds herself on a quest for the Creationist’s Chalice, which she must have to overcome the Destroyers bent on crushing Dalkana. Dalgarno, mostly as punishment, is assigned by his village elder to guide her to the chalice. For Lindsay, of course, this only adds doubt to the danger.

McLean’s imagination and descriptive abilities make up for a certain immaturity of style. I found some punctuation choices, for instance, rather distracting. But before I go lamenting the lack of English instruction in schools these days, as I frequently do, it should be noted that much may be due to differences in usage. McLean is a very youthful Scottish lass, while I am an elder Yank. None of the foregoing, however, kept me from enjoying the story!

In the process of writing this, I discovered that Miss McLean has a very striking website: www.wix.com/nikkimclean/nikkimclean. As luck would have it, it was being edited and I was unable to access the various pages. Hopefully we can visit it soon to discover more about this intriguing young lady.