[dmurray]

> Meanwhile no one had ever been as far from other life as he was on that flight.

Xkcd has a good fact check on this: it's just about plausible that some Polynesian or Antarctic explorer, the last survivor of a doomed expedition, was the furthest from any other human. But more likely it is the CSM commanders.

I note you say "other life" rather than "other humans", which would make it more clear cut in favour of Collins if we don't count whatever microorganisms travelled in Collins' gut and on every surface of Apollo.

https://what-if.xkcd.com/72/

[slg]

I did think about that possibility which is why I wrote "life" and not "humans". Perhaps it should have been "visible life" or "non-microscopic life". Being alone on the ocean is certainly scary, but there is enough life and resources in the water to sustain someone basically indefinitely. Collins was alone beyond the tiny organisms that the crew brought up with them.

[throw0101a]

> Xkcd has a good fact check on this: it's just about plausible that some Polynesian or Antarctic explorer, the last survivor of a doomed expedition, was the furthest from any other human. But more likely it is the CSM commanders.

See Point Nemo:

> The oceanic pole of inaccessibility (48°52.5′S 123°23.6′W)[17] is the place in the ocean that is farthest from land. It lies in the South Pacific Ocean, 2,688 km (1,670 mi) from the nearest lands: Ducie Island (part of the Pitcairn Islands) to the north, Motu Nui (part of the Easter Islands) to the northeast, and Maher Island (near the larger Siple Island, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica) to the south. The area is so remote that—as with any location more than 400 kilometres (about 250 miles) from an inhabited area—sometimes the closest human beings are astronauts aboard the International Space Station when it passes overhead.[18][19]

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_inaccessibility#Oceani...

There are sailing races (group and solo (and non-stop)) that venture into those waters:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Race

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vend%C3%A9e_Globe

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Golden_Globe_Race

[soarfourmore]

It's plausible. The moon's width is 2,158.8 miles, and I could imagine an explorer being >3000 miles from another human

[Igelau]

The actual travel distance would be further because you can't just bore through the moon.

[cbm-vic-20]

I'm too lazy to do the math, but what's the point-to-point distance (through the planet) of points that are 5000km along the surface?

[banana_giraffe]

Assuming a spherical earth, it's 4873 km.

[foobar1962]

Assuming a spherical earth in a vacuum... One of the few times that simplifying assumption matches reality.

[kelnos]

Not quite; the Earth is an oblate spheroid. Assuming it's a sphere is certainly a close enough approximation for this exercise, though.

[dylan604]

How far is it if you assume a flat earth?

[hulahoof]

5000km