"Let me tell you - when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble. You don't think about breaking records anymore, you don't think about gaining scientific data - the only thing that you want is to come back alive," he said afterwards at a media conference.
When he reached the planned jump altitude, he popped open the capsule hatch and unbuckled his seat belt. "Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are," he radioed as he balanced on the narrow step outside the capsule. "I'm going home now."