Dictionary

Kármán line en · NOUN

Etymology

Named after Hungarian-American engineer Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963), who calculated this limit.

Meanings

1. The altitude at which the atmosphere becomes too thin to support aerodynamic flight.
   • As for what was worn during the Paris festivities, the dress code wasn’t specifically themed as Marie Antoinette – necklines did plunge deep, in the late 18th-century style, but hemlines had been guillotined somewhere near the Kármán line. 2025 May 20, Marina Hyde, “Was this a hen do or a humanitarian mission to liberate Paris? Either way, give Lauren Sánchez an award”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • The boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, known as the Kármán line, has been a source of controversy for years. 2021 July 11, Sarah Betancourt, “Virgin Galactic to launch space plane with Richard Branson onboard”, in The Guardian:
   • As well as being important for aircraft and spacecraft, the Kármán line is useful for lawyers—the laws that govern space are not the same as the laws that govern Earth's atmosphere! 2020, Stephen Hawking, Lucy Hawking, Unlocking the Universe, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

Forms

Coordinates

McDowell line · McDowell limit

Relateds

death zone · Armstrong line · mesopause

Synonyms

Karman limit · von Karman limit · Gabrielli-von Karman limit