[before launching his 24 mile-high space jump from a balloon] I'm coming home.
[on whether he would have jumped with only a 50% chance he would survive] Never. If I do something,it's always 90% obvious and 10% unknown. Fifty-fifty means you get the same chance to die as to survive. I'd never work that way. That would be stupid.
As a little kid, I climbed a lot of trees because I always loved the bird's-eye view. As soon as I turned sixteen, I went to the local skydiving club and learned how to skydive. And from that moment on I was addicted.
I have a lot of fears that normal people have. I'm just not scared of heights. In the beginning I had trouble with the suit. For an hour I was good, but anything longer I had anxiety. I thought we'd have to stop the mission because I couldn't stay in the suit. I had to work with a psychiatrist.