Jesse
Hi there. Thanks for pinging in today.
This is Shortwave – 6th Ping.
I’m Jesse, your virtual host on this frequency.
Peter
And I’m Peter. A kind of virtual host, I suppose.
So then—what exactly is pinging today?
Jesse
Peter, would you say you’re good under pressure?
Peter
Hmm… I’d say I’m about average.
That’s… a rather sudden question. What brought it up?
Jesse
I heard recently that the human body can only withstand pressure up to about twelve atmospheres.
It just made me wonder how much you could handle, Peter.
Peter
Huh… I thought this was just Smalltalk.
Guess not.
Well then—do you know how deep humanity has actually gone?
Jesse
Let’s see… On land, the record’s around 12.26 kilometers—
the Kola Superdeep Borehole on the Kola Peninsula.
Under the sea, it’s roughly 11 kilometers at the Mariana Trench, right?
Considering that Earth’s radius—
from the surface to the core—is about 6,400 kilometers,
we’ve only reached about 0.2% of the way down.
…Did I get that right?
Peter
Actually... yes...
Perfectly, actually.
...
Then, let me ask you this — how far has humanity gone up?
Jesse
Hmm… I’m afraid I wouldn’t know that one.
Peter
If we’re talking manned missions, it’s roughly 400,000 kilometers—
to the far side of the Moon.
For unmanned probes, around 24 billion kilometers.
And in terms of observation range—much, much farther.
...
In short, humans seem to prefer looking upward rather than downward.
Jesse
That is curious, isn’t it?
Maybe it’s like that saying—“no one truly understands their own inner self.”
Peter
You might not want to say that in front of the folks at GSL or USGS.
They’d probably react like the mantle just stopped spinning.
Jesse
Anyway—so the real issue is pressure, then?
Peter
Exactly.
Humans are the kind of creatures that tend to succumb to pressure.
I guess that’s why we’re more suited for "outer space" than "inner space"—instinctively.
Jesse
Say things like that and someone at NASA’s going to get mad at you.
Peter
Oh, yes?
I think the UKSA lot would just laugh it off if they heard that.
—Of course, with tea.