Virgin Galactic pilot recounts how he survived being ejected at 50,000 feet

14 Nov 2014 • engadget.com

According to surviving pilot Peter Siebold, the spacecraft disintegrated around his seat while it was flying at 50,000 feet, almost twice the height of Mt. Everest. The temperature at that altitude is usually below freezing point, around minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and any human without an oxygen mask would pass out due to loss of pressure. Since Siebold wasn’t wearing a spacesuit at the time, that’s exactly what happened to him, though he managed to unbuckle his seatbelt at some point before his parachute automatically opened.

Uh. Wow. Thankful for my desk job right now.