37 Kilometers Up

The balloon has reached an altitude of 37 km (23 miles). Look down through the clouds and see forests, fields and Pleshcheyevo Lake. Look around and see stars, including the one at the center of our solar system. Why don’t the bright sun and stars fill the blackness of space with light? In space, there are so few molecules that the scattering of light doesn’t occur. Light passes through in a straight line, and all we see is a void.