QUESTION:  
How does such a small amount of oxygen affect you on the Kuiper?

ANSWER from Kurt Richter on October 17, 1995:
I flew on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, a converted military aircraft
known as a C-141.  It was converted into a flying telescope, and it flies
at night with an infrared telescope, making observations of many distant 
as well as earth bound objects with infrared telescopic observations.  On 
our particular mission we flew out of Hawaii and flew a flight path which 
allowed observation of NGC1068, a cluster of stars within the Milky Way 
Galaxy.   This also contained a suspected black hole which was emitting a 
signature that was indicating that it really was a black hole.  OUr 
mission was to take readings on the emission.

To do that, we had to fly between 38,000 and 41,000 feet altitude to avoid
the water vapor and moisture that makes it possible for you and me to
breathe on the earth's surface.  Works great for infrared telescopes...but
for humans, it is tough on the body!

So...we were advised by the scientific team to load up our bodies with
liquids the day before and the day of the flight.  We did that...and
brought lots of water and juice with us on our flight.  I never have drunk
so much Cranberry Juice in my LIFE!!!

During the flight, we drank lots of water, too.

But...good news.  The plane was pressurized.  That means that they kept the
air pressure in the plane at the 10,000 foot level, even though we were
30,000 feet higher.  Our Oxygen was just fine INSIDE the plane.  We didn't
get dizzy because the airplane, at that height, was VERY stable and didn't
move even as much as, say, an automobile.

But...bad news.  We had to outfit ourselves with Oxygen masks since, 
unlike on regular passenger/civilian plane, we didn't have those little 
oxygen masks that drop out of the overhead compartment in case the plane
de-pressurizes.  I was outfitted with my own Oxygen Mask...and I was told
that I had fifteen seconds to get to it in case of a depressurization.

Good news...it never happened, that night.  I was pretty pleased, because
their warning left no doubt in my mind that, had the plane suffered loss of
pressure, that I would have blacked out...within the fifteen second time
limit.

Straight answer to your question:  I had plenty of oxygen, just like on a
commercial airliner...except it was dryer.  Losing balance just wasn't an
issue at all, considering that I was in an airplane.

Hope this helps to answer your question!!!