Mount Everest is famous as the tallest mountain in the world, but just how tall is it?
Officially the peak stands at 29,029ft above sea level, though that measurement dates from the 1950s and teams from around the globe have attempted to have it moved up and down ever since.
But now, for the first time, a team of Nepalese researchers are preparing to make their own calculation in an attempt to put the debate to rest once and for all.
A team of Nepalese researchers is preparing to measure Everest, the first time a team from the country will have calculated the height of the peak
Everest was first named the world’s tallest mountain back in 1856 after Sir George Everest, the British former surveyor general of India, took a team of Indian mathematicians to calculate the height.
Radhanath Sikdar used triangulation to work out the height of the peak using objects surrounding the mountain whose height was known to be at sea level.
The angle between those objects and the top of Everest, then known only as Peak XV, provided him with a height of 29,002ft.
Mr Everest published the findings and the mountain was renamed in his honour.
After Nepal opened its borders to foreigners in the 1950s scientists were able to move their instruments closer and calculated the peak at 29,029ft, as it is recognised today, the New York Times reports.
Since then teams of eager foreigners have attempted to adjust the height.
The researchers will spend the next month calculating sea level before trekking to the summit of Everest where they will use a GPS beacon to calculate the height
In 1992 an Italian team measured the mountain at seven feet less, while in 1999 American scientists added six feet to the official measurement.
China, which shares ownership of the peak with Nepal, also laid claim to a measurement in 2005, saying Everest was 29,017ft – though it retracted this after a fall in the number of climbers.
Nepal has been largely excluded from all previous attempts to measure Everest, and has recently turned down another offer from India in favour of doing it themselves.
A team will spend the next month measuring objects in the land-locked country’s southern plains in order to calculate sea level.
Once that task is complete, they will scale the mountain and place a GPS receiver on the summit for an hour.
Using data from satellites and gravitational measurements from the base, the team will be able to calculate the height of the mountain.
The measurement will also be the first taken since the earthquake of 2015, which scientists believe will have lowered its height.
The estimated cost of the expedition will be $250,000.