At these altitudes, barely 10 per cent of the atmosphere remains, and the air pressure is so low that the temperature falls to a lethally cold -56°C. The threat is not academic, either: at any given time, hundreds of thousands of people are being transported at these altitudes aboard aircraft. Passengers and crew are kept warm using hot air taken from the compressor stages of the engines before it’s mixed with fuel. This, combined with insulation in the walls and heat generated by the passengers themselves, ensures the cabin can be kept at room temperature.
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At altitude the boiling point for liquids drops drastically, any moisture on the body can be catastrophic.