Travelers In The Night

How often do you traveled 5, 10, or more miles on a shopping trip? If instead of traveling on the Earth's surface you were to travel 6 miles straight up, to the realm of the jet airliner, you would likely need oxygen to stay conscious. At an altitude of 12 miles you would need a space suit to stay alive. Several groups have reached an altitude of 24 miles using cameras attached to unmanned weather balloons with budgets of less than $1,000. At this height their cameras were above 99% of the Earth's atmosphere.