Can you see the stratosphere

Eventually, you'll hit the stratosphere's ceiling 31 miles or 50 kilometers up. Beyond that point, the trend starts to reverse itself; things get pretty chilly in the mesosphere. Ozone gas safeguards this planet from excessive ultraviolet UV radiation sent over by the sun. Made up of oxygen atoms, ozone — like many sunscreens — absorbs UV light. Entire ecosystems would fail if not for that critical service. Our atmosphere's supply of the gas is mostly limited to the famous ozone layer.

And about 90 percent of this layer is contained within the stratosphere. On a related note, the ozone explains why stratospheric temperatures climb at higher altitudes. Not only does it absorb the Sun's UV rays, but it also soaks up infrared radiation from the troposphere. The result? A stratosphere that grows toastier by the mile. The troposphere is cloud city. So the relatively wet troposphere is a great environment for them.

But the stratosphere? Not so much. By and large, it's just too dry to facilitate cloud formation. Still, the cloud shortage isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The stratosphere combines largely cloud-free skies with limited turbulence, making it attractive to airline pilots. The troposphere is the lowest layer of our atmosphere. Starting at ground level, it extends upward to about 10 km 6. We humans live in the troposphere, and nearly all weather occurs in this lowest layer.

Air pressure drops, and temperatures get colder, as you climb higher in the troposphere. The next layer up is called the stratosphere. The stratosphere extends from the top of the troposphere to about 50 km 31 miles above the ground. The infamous ozone layer is found within the stratosphere. Ozone molecules in this layer absorb high-energy ultraviolet UV light from the Sun, converting the UV energy into heat.

Unlike the troposphere, the stratosphere actually gets warmer the higher you go! That trend of rising temperatures with altitude means that air in the stratosphere lacks the turbulence and updrafts of the troposphere beneath.

Space X has also developed a new rocket system. Their Falcon Heavy rockets Figure 8 are designed to be twice as powerful as others currently in use, and can reach a maximum altitude of However, their story has been laced with challenges. In one of the Falcon 9 rockets intended to transport cargo to the ISS incurred a malfunction which caused it to explode on the launchpad.

That incident led the company to delay all further launches for 6 months, and created a backlog of over 70 missions, costing the company more than 10 billion dollars in revenue [ 27 ]. According to Musk, the company hopes to send two civilians around the moon in late Another giant of the commercial space industry is Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos who made his fortune as founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Amazon. Their first unmanned test flight took place in April , achieving an altitude of 93 km Since then, the same booster has been reflown four times during subsequent test flights from their secured launch space in Cape Canaveral [ 28 ].

However, Blue Origin has yet to send a rocket into space, and does not currently possess a rocket that is qualified to carry people [ 27 ]. Virgin Galactic, a competitive entity in the commercial space industry, was developed by Richard Branson. The SS2 is an air-launched glider with capacity to carry six passengers and two pilots, and contains a rocket motor and extra systems for spaceflight [ 28 ].

However, a tragic accident in involving one of their aircraft led to many delays in the planned flights [ 27 , 28 ]. Three years from that tragic day, Virgin Galactic has yet to test any further powered spacecraft flights.

Its newest vehicle, Spaceship Unity, has performed only a small number of glide flights. The company anticipates returning to unmanned, powered flights in late or early The ultimate goal of Virgin Orbit is to distribute satellites around the solar system, starting with the low-Earth orbit constellation [ 33 , 34 ]. This constellation will be part of the larger SpaceBelt satellite system, and will serve as a space-based data storage network. The company plans the first rocket test in , using the Boeing as part of its two-stage LauncherOne system, providing both an expendable and reusable air-launched platform [ 34 ].

There are a number of other smaller commercial space flight companies vying for position in this competitive market. From to , roughly space-related companies were founded, with nearly 84 focusing on satellite technology [ 35 ].

Roughly are projected to be launched within the next 6 years. This winged spacecraft will reportedly allow for flexible, trustworthy, and affordable transport. The craft experienced some issues during a test flight in which the landing gear failed to deploy and sent the craft skidding off the runway after landing.

SNC partnered with the United Launch Alliance, announcing in that they would employ the use of the Atlas 5 rocket, which includes 5 strap-on boosters and a twin engine upper stage, to send the first two Dream Chaser cargo aircraft to the ISS in and Utilizing these powerful rockets, the aircraft will be able to deliver nearly 12, pounds kg of equipment and supplies on each non-piloted mission [ 37 ].

Dream Chaser spacecraft being lifted by an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter during a captive-carry flight test. XCOR is a smaller commercial spaceflight company whose primary focus is a higher tempo flight operation. Their spacecraft, the Lynx Suborbital Vehicle, is a two seated, piloted transport with room for one pilot and one passenger or a specified payload [ 38 ].

XCOR plans to have a fast flight turnaround time and will prioritize low cost operations with minimal maintenance necessary for the fully reusable rockets between flights.

This would potentially allow their goal of offering up to four flights per day. After landing, the Moon Express will need to extract iron ore, water, minerals and precious metals from the lunar soil, as well as capture nitrogen and hydrogen. Robert Bigelow, owner of Bigelow Aerospace which produces inflatable space habitats, has a similar vision. His company is currently testing a prototype, Bigelow Expandable Activity Module on the ISS, and has demonstrated free-flying prototypes in orbit.

This could potentially give Bigelow a huge future advantage in the area of space tourism hotels. Interorbital Systems, a small person operation, is also based in the Mojave desert. Cofounders Roderick and Rnada Milliron started the company with the personal goal to eventually live on the moon. They also plan to compete for the Lunar XPrize. Currently, Interorbital Systems primarily sells satellites, with plans to launch more than in the next year to provide revenue for equipment needed to achieve their moon landing goal [ 35 ].

Considering these commercial space industry startups, where will the next decades take us? Its ultimate purpose is to help grow the space-tourism business. Upon ISS decommissioning, the module would detach and begin formation of the Axiom commercial space station [ 35 ]. Beyond a commercial ISS, plans to place orbital hotels have been the dream of many countries for some time. Consider the Space Hotel Berlin and Space Hotel Europe, which share a similar circular design with individual pods on the perimeter; each would provide accommodation for about 50 tourists [ 41 ].

The innovative aspect of MARINA is the external International Docking Adapter ports which allow modular service pods to connect to various points and, if standardized among space vehicles, would allow companies of all sizes to provide and request products and services from other companies in space [ 42 ]. Twenty-first century space exploration has transformed and taken on new meaning. What was once thought to be travel only to the moon or nearby planets now includes stratospheric exploration and commercial high atmosphere flights.

Experiences available to only a select group of people with years of advanced training, are now close to being offered to a much wider group of eager customers. Human ingenuity prevails yet again; we have developed technology to keep us safe in one of the most hostile environments of our home planet. As we continue to explore, we must never lose the sense of awe and respect for those visionary pilots and adventurers that helped us better understand and appreciate this aspect of our Earth.

As Col. Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3. Help us write another book on this subject and reach those readers. Login to your personal dashboard for more detailed statistics on your publications. Edited by Thais Russomano. Edited by Ramesh K. By Robert D. Kothera, Benjamin K. Woods, Edward A. Bubert and Norman M. We are IntechOpen, the world's leading publisher of Open Access books. Built by scientists, for scientists.

Our readership spans scientists, professors, researchers, librarians, and students, as well as business professionals.

Downloaded: Abstract Similar to outer space, the stratosphere experiences freezing temperatures, with atmospheric pressures and oxygen levels far below the level required for human survival. Keywords high altitude ebullism stratosphere StratEx Stratos pressure suit commercial space industry. Decompression illness Gas bubbles form in three different ways: vaporization of water within tissues previously discussed , evolution of dissolved gas in the vasculature decompression illness , and direct injection of gas via ruptured alveoli, resulting in venous and arterial embolism [ 10 ].

Barotrauma Barotrauma occurs as decreased ambient pressures lead to increased volumes of gas within our gas-filled cavities, including the sinuses, ears and thoracic cavity. Pressure suits The goal of the first high altitude explorers quickly became focused on finding a way to survive brief periods in this extreme environment.

Early near misses and failures The modern quest to explore high altitudes began with Paul Bert in , who developed the first altitude chamber complete with supplemental oxygen [ 17 ]. Nick Piantanida and Strato Jump I-III Nick Piantanida, a truck driver from New Jersey with virtually no experience or training, became obsessed with the idea of high altitude jumps and breaking the world free fall record [ 12 , 19 ]. Emergency medical planning for high altitude missions The principles of medical coverage for this type of mission revolve around planning for the conventional expected injuries of a traumatic accident and well as those injuries specific to high altitude exposure.

Commercial space companies 4. World View and Zero2infinity hope to counter unwanted motion with the parafoil design and perhaps extra systems, but that could get prohibitively expensive.

Another problem: needing to fly as often as twice a week to make the business viable. He says World View is developing its own balloon manufacturing plant and working out whether reusable balloons are feasible. Regulatory red tape is another big unknown. MacCallum says that many of the current ticketholders are business people or scientists. A survey by consulting firm Futron showed that seeing Earth from space was a big reason for wanting to fly to space, but that potential space tourists were most strongly motivated by the possibility of being a pioneer.

That could be bad news for the customer flow. Even so, the survey questions asked respondents only about orbital and suborbital options; at the time there was no balloon option.

Rocket rides require passengers to be strapped into seats most of the time, while balloon passengers will be permitted to get up and move around. Balloons are slow, ascending at about 11 mph and descending not much faster. Neither World View nor Zero2infinity places restrictions on who can fly: The elderly and children are welcome.

Balloons are also cheaper to operate than rockets, and they require next to no infrastructure to launch and retrieve—Zero2infinity is even considering bringing the balloon and capsule to clients anywhere in the world, or at least the closest spot with suitably calm winds.

Rockets are loud, while inside the balloon capsule the loudest sound will likely be conversation. And unlike emission-less balloons, rockets pollute; a recent study showed that a growing commercial space industry could have significant impacts on the global climate. The trick to designing the capsule, he says, is to make the capsule not only safe, but safe-looking.

Drinks and food will help. MacCallum recalls the age of Zeppelins, when luxury lounges were slung beneath airships like floating dining clubs. Storing, heating, and serving truly gourmet food might require more space, weight, and crew attention than the companies have to spare.

He is a bit of a thrill-seeker—in he took a MiG flight to 80, feet.