Endless Ocean of Air?

"We look into the sky it seems to us to be endless.... we think without consideration about the boundless ocean of air, and then you sit aboard a spacecraft, you tear away from the Earth and within ten minutes, you have been carried straight out of the layer of air, and beyond there is nothing! Beyond the air there is only emptiness, coldness, darkness. The "boundless" blue sky, the ocean which gives us breath and protects us from the endless black and death, is but an infinitesimally thin film. How dangerous it is to threaten even the smallest part of this gossamer covering, this conserver of life."

Vladimir Shatalov, The Home Planer

and on that note I'm off to Banff to Mountain Bike this weekend, if I remember to take pictures on the weekend I'll post some pictures.