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Comment by akira2501 | Hacker News Reader

These people. You can get a MiG-29 to take you to the edge of space, so you can see the curve of the earth with your own eyes, for around €20,000.

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>The plan, as stated, is to send himself 1,800 feet high in the air

Or just go to the top of a large building

Not very many buildings are that high:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings

1WTC is a little short, but the only one in the US which is close to that height.

Well, a $20000 budget can get you comfortably to any of the 1800+ft buildings, faster and safer. It's probably enough to go to all of them...

are you serious, his plan is for only 1800 feet? LOL

Wouldn't it be easier (and better exercise) to get that elevation gain just hiking up a nearby mountain?

This leaves room for another fundraising campaign to go even higher next time.

I think this is his test flight.

I wonder how he thinks satellites work... just hovering above a flat earth?

It’s just all so stupid that I hate that NPR is even validating this by publishing it. There is no bar anymore, or any level of critical thinking. Ugh.

They teleport to the opposite edge when they hit one. It is common knowledge to anyone played Asteroids. http://www.freeasteroids.org/

Or just go to the seaside and watch a boat sailing away over the horizon... but that wouldn't put him in the spotlight, and this is obviously just another media attention seeking stunt...

NB: This is actually how people in the middle ages knew the earth wasn't flat. They could watch ships drop down over the horizon from the harbor.

Sadly, flat-earth believers will then claim that the ships aren’t being obscured by the curvature of the earth - rather, supposedly, it’s just that one needs to use a lens to zoom in due to the vanishing point: http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/evidence-for-the-flat-eart...

Of course, it would be easy to test that theory: keep magnifying as the ship sails away, and if the ship is still appears to sink, then the vanishing point explanation is a non sequitur.

From Lexington MI I can see a lot of wind turbines across lake Huron in Canada. You can see the blades rotating below the horizon. I'm sure if you drive over there they stay a good 50 feet above the ground.

Where can I buy a MiG-29 for that price?

I think the GP was referring to something like Migflung rentals[0

[0] http://www.migflug.com/en/jet-fighter-flights.html

I’d assumed it was commercial flight ticket and a quick search appears that’s the case: http://www.flyfighterjet.com/edge-of-space-flight although I’m sure you could disprove a flat earth for one of the lower altitude flights they offer

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