Uploaded March 2015 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago

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Comments with "reply" disabled will be deleted. Some people wonder why the horizon "doesn't look curved." The Earth is simply too wide to make out curvature unless you get really high up. But a telephoto lens (or telescope) allows us to view curvature along Z-depth, across several miles at sea level. And a Soyuz rocket allows us to see the entire journey from ground to over 200 km.

Alt camera view from Soyuz launch- youtube.com/watch?v=rhqclpAa208

Also see how ships disappear over the horizon bottom-first- youtube.com/watch?v=dV0h68YU0iQ
and here- youtube.com/watch?v=sNGorPyX9OQ

Mahrai Ziller gives a detailed example of Earth-to-human scale- youtu.be/RIZbh3g16-8?t=1540 If Earth were the size of a soccer ball (22cm), a human would be .000000297cm tall, or 297 nanometers. That is smaller than some bacteria.

More views from launch to space:

2015 youtube.com/watch?v=HeuBLIHr5CI

2013- youtube.com/watch?v=CsYMBMAK9qw This shows a distinctly convex horizon that cannot be attributed to barrel distortion.


Sources:
View of Toronto from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario - youtube.com/watch?v=1ShUmY-INVY

Toronto Viewed Across Lake Ontario From New York State - youtube.com/watch?v=bdIlq_Xfdng

Onboard camera view: launch and separation of Sentinel-1A - youtube.com/watch?v=vHWDNrrfhnI

A Soyuz Rocket Launch Explained - youtube.com/watch?v=oG5fJ8n6jB8

Earth Seen From Space Station ISS [Real Speed HD] - youtube.com/watch?v=XG90YYHCSeA