If you stood on the tip of Mount Chimborazo, you would be closer to outer space than anyone who's climbed the steep slopes of Mount Everest - although getting to that point would be just as risky.
Imagine the nearest point to space from Earth. Do you imagine Mount Everest? Or Mount Fuji? When space begins at the Kármán line, which lies 100 km above the Earth's surface, it makes sense to assume that the tip of the tallest mountains on Earth would be the closest humans could ever get to space while standing on land.
But elevation is not the only factor that determines which part of Earth is closest to space, and here's why.
Unlike its depictions, the Earth doesn't form a perfect sphere; it's more oval. The planet is slightly flat at the poles and bulges at the equator, which makes locations near the equator closer to space than those farther away from it.
Due to this simple fact, neither Mount Everest nor Mount Fuji come as close to the Kármán line as Mount Chimborazo, a 6,263-metre dormant volcano in Ecuador. So, if you stood on the tip of Mount Chimborazo, you would be closer to outer space than anyone who's climbed the steep slopes of Mount Everest - although getting to that point would be just as risky.
This article is written by K. Tejasree, an intern
