"There's one thing we'll have to do before we can take the Sky Queen into the upper stratosphere or ionosphere," he said.

Most of the ozone production occurs in the tropical upper stratosphere and mesosphere.

It is designed to stay aloft, circling the globe on the relatively light winds of the upper stratosphere, for up to 100 days.

He used radiosondes to take reliable temperature readings in the upper stratosphere ( 40 km).

The upper stratosphere is less affected, so that the amount of ozone over the continent decreases by 50 percent or even more.

But it comforted them to know that they could be shot into the upper stratosphere and beyond.

"We all know," he says, "that in the upper stratosphere of the art scene, being popular among the common folk is a big no-no."

LeCroix was in the upper stratosphere, had been there for more than twenty-four hours.

The layer, in the upper stratosphere, protects against the sun's ultraviolet rays.

But the air in the upper stratosphere is actually getting colder, so scientists don't think changes in the sun have much effect.