Wouldn’t it be great
to have a truly jaw-dropping view?
Like windows looking directly into space?
Well, it’s time to build
your very own cosmic skyscraper.
The Kármán line is the area
that is often regarded as the boundary
between Earth and outer space.
This edge hovers around 100 km (62 mi)
above our planet’s surface.
Living this high up,
you’d be one quarter of the way
to the International Space Station.
And your penthouse would be
over 100 times higher
than the tallest building in the world today,
the Burj Khalifa.
This skyscraper in Dubai
reaches a height of 830 m (2,722 ft).
It would take about 20 seconds
to hit the ground
if you fell from the top of the Burj Khalifa.
So be careful on your new balcony
on a cosmic skyscraper.
Because a fall from that height
would be a much longer
plummet to your death.
Or would you simply burn up
like a meteoroid entering the atmosphere?
Of course, living in the sky doesn't mean you can avoid the problems on Earth.
Eventually, all that pollution we put into the air will come up here anyway.
Look, we all want a better planet and make a difference for the next generation.
And as great as going vegan, composting and recycling is for the environment,
individual action won't be enough to mitigate the damage already done.
Look, we need collective action from civic-minded citizens just like you.
People who will stand up to lawmakers and corporations to make a change.
Whether you're pushing for the Green New Deal or soda companies to ban plastic bottles,
you need to use your votes and your dollars if you want to fight climate change.
Elect the officials that battle the issue now and don't support companies that ignore this existential threat.
And remember, no matter what, let's stay positive as we spread this message.
Let's educate and inform without resorting to shaming or doom-and-gloom tactics.
Hey, there's a lot of work to be done, but we can make this happen together.
If we clean up the Earth below, the view from the top will be spectacular.
In order to begin planning
the tallest construction project ever,
you’d need to take into consideration
how big its base would need to be.
With our current technology
we could build something
as tall as 4 km (2.4 mi).
That's roughly the same size
as Mount Fuji.
A concept skyscraper like this
was proposed to help Tokyo with its
surging population issues.
It would have required a base
as large as 36 sq km (13.8 sq mi)
to go along with a price tag in the trillions.
A building that is 8.8 km (5.4 mi) tall,
or the height of Mount Everest,
would need a base that’s
4,100 square km (1,580 square mi).
That's twice the size
of the city of Tokyo, Japan.
You’d certainly need a lot of land area
for the base of your cosmic tower.
But even if you had
all the land you needed,
your issues would run deep.
Literally.
A tower reaching to space
would be so heavy
that even the Earth below it
would struggle to support it.
It would create a ditch in the crust.
Over hundreds of years,
your tower would sink deeper and deeper.
Your construction materials
would be another important thing to consider.
And another issue that you’d run into
is that the materials you’d need
might not even exist yet.
You’d want something
that could withstand
all the gravitational forces
that would be pulling on it.
One idea could be to develop
a high-tech form of carbon
similar to a diamond.
But stronger, more flexible
and extremely light.
But a luxury space tower
made of diamonds?
Yeah, you should make sure
you’ve got the budget for that.
As for the windows that would
give you the most epic view,
you could use aluminum oxynitride,
or ALON.
“Transparent aluminum?”
This transparent,
ceramic-like material made of aluminum,
nitrogen and oxygen
would be more durable
than the glass laminate
used in spacecraft windows.
You and your hundreds of thousands
of neighbors would have to think about
the structure’s utilities,
such as water and keeping the lights on.
Luckily for you,
this would be a great opportunity
to put renewable resources to work.
You could build wind turbines
into the skyscraper's design.
And so high above the clouds,
solar panels would be able to soak up
a lot of raw energy from the Sun.
As for water,
you could pull it directly
from the sky around you.
The troposphere holds
nearly all of Earth’s water vapor,
so you could collect rainwater and condensation
from the surrounding clouds.
Just leave some for us down below.
Going up to your luxury space condo
wouldn’t be so simple either.
You definitely wouldn’t be able
to use the stairs if you were in a hurry.
Or worse, if there were an emergency.
Theoretically, a space elevator could travel
at speeds up to 320 km/h (200 mph).
At a height around the Kármán line,
you’d need about 25 minutes
to get from your penthouse
to the ground floor.
Maybe you’d have a faster commute
if you used a parachute.
Of course, that would be
if you didn’t burn up
like a meteoroid in the mesosphere.
The truth is that living the high life
would come with some downsides.
The temperatures along the tower
would vary dramatically.
At the bottom of the thermosphere,
it would be as cold as -120 °C (-184 °F).
And at the top of that layer,
it would be a scorching
2,000 °C (3,600 °F).
You certainly wouldn’t be able to enjoy
a beautiful afternoon out on your balcony
without a spacesuit protecting you
from the extreme temperatures
and providing you oxygen to breathe.
There would also be a constant threat
of damage from meteorites
and broken satellites.
Hurricanes or tornadoes below you
could topple the structure too.
If your 100 km (62 mi) tall building
were to collapse,
you could count on
millions of tons of materials doing
an enormous amount of damage below.
Maybe it would be best
to start with a project that could be
a little more useful.
Like engineering that space elevator
I mentioned earlier.
But that’s a story for another WHAT IF.