Armstrong limit
![If a pilot flew above the Armstrong limit using only an oxygen mask and no pressure suit, the water wetting the pilot's lungs would boil, as would saliva in the mouth.](/Images/godic/202412/21/F-16_pilot,_closeup,_canopy_blemishes_cleaned5428.jpg")
![Mario Pezzi a pilot in 1937 wearing a pressure suit to avoid hypoxia.](/Images/godic/202412/21/Caproni_Ca.161_pilot5428.jpg")
![Comparison of a graph of International Standard Atmosphere temperature and pressure with the Armstrong limit and approximate altitudes of various objects](/Images/godic/202412/21/Comparison_International_Standard_Atmosphere_space_diving.svg5429.png")
The Armstrong limit, often called Armstrong's line, is the altitude that produces an atmospheric pressure so low (0.0618 atmosphere or 6.3 kPa (47 mmHg)) that water boils at the normal temperature of the human body: 37 °C (98.6 °F). It is named after Harry George Armstrong, who founded the U.S. Air Force’s Department of Space Medicine in 1947 at Randolph Field, Texas. Armstrong was the first to recognize this phenomenon, which occurs at an altitude beyond which humans absolutely cannot survive in an unpressurized environment. On Earth, this begins at an altitude of approximately 18 km (60,000 ft), to about 19 km (62,000 ft), depending on the individual's level of physical fitness.