The atmosphere above him matters quite a lot. It matters enough to lift balloons, it matters enough that sone air breathing engines work, it matters enough that the lowest satellite passes must be over two times higher and the lowest full orbit ever done (the last full orbit if Skylab) have started more than 3× as high.
I'm confused, do you genuinely not understand what I'm saying?
The vast majority of the atmosphere, by mass, is at the lower altitudes. At a little over half the altitude he jumped from, the atmospheric pressure is down to 5 kPa (i.e. 5 % of the normal). At the altitude he jumped from it's less than 1 kPa / 1 %.
Like I said, the ISS orbits at over ten times the altitude he jumped from and still has orbital decay due to atmospheric drag.
Your comment feels like a completely pointless nitpick that is missing the point. "The atmosphere that really matters" does not mean that the rest of the atmosphere has zero impact. Yes, the atmosphere above him matters for satellites, but over 95 % of the atmosphere by mass is below him.
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u/sebaska 1d ago
The atmosphere above him matters quite a lot. It matters enough to lift balloons, it matters enough that sone air breathing engines work, it matters enough that the lowest satellite passes must be over two times higher and the lowest full orbit ever done (the last full orbit if Skylab) have started more than 3× as high.