If the Earth Were the Size of a Basketball

by Steven M. Tilley for the Asteroid News
Earth scaled to the size of a basketball, illustrating the surface-based distance to the Moon
Earth scaled to the size of a basketball, illustrating how far away the Moon would be using surface-based distance scaling.
All distances shown are scaled from the Earth's surface, not its center. In this model, Earth is represented by a basketball, and measurements are taken from the outside of the ball. This is why the Moon's distance in this model seems slightly shorter than usual values.
Feature / Orbit Scaled Distance from Earth Surface
Top of the Troposphere0.3775 mm
Top of the Stratosphere1.1326 mm
Top of the Mesosphere2.2652 mm
STS-1 (Perigee)4.5305 mm
STS-1 (Apogee)4.7381 mm
ISS (Perigee)7.5697 mm
ISS (Apogee)7.7018 mm
Top of Thermosphere1.1326 cm(0.4459 Inch)
Geosynchronous Orbit67.5533 cm(2.2163 Feet)
Lunar Distance (Perigee)6.7341 m(22.093 Feet)
Lunar Distance (Mean)7.1361 m(23.4124 Feet)
Lunar Distance (Apogee)7.5381 m(24.731 Feet)
Earth's Surface to the Sun's Surface2.810 km(1.746 Mile)