Thanks for the info, TT!! I was thinking of the part where he said at the beginning of the freefall, there was no rustling of his flight suit due to the lack of atmosphere. Not to mention, that high up, it would take a bit of time to even realize that you're "falling" .
If I'm not mistaken, our current definition of "space" is different from what it was back then. Not sure about this, just what I remember hearing. Now I think it's officially like 70+.