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theothertimcook

I only learned recently that Felix nearly had to pull out of the jump due to claustrophobia from the suit.

After CBT he was able to tolerate the suit and complete the jump.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-ove...

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Wearing a spacesuit, you can't scratch your nose.

You maybe don't think it's a big thing but try sitting one minute without touching your face.

I have no idea why you think this is a thing, but just in case I subconsciously tend to do this, I set a timer for 2 minutes without touching my face.

It was effortless.

Edit: wait, I've been in an MRI machine for over an hour where I can't move my arms from my side. How can you think one minute is anything?

You clearly have superhuman endurance and I bow to you.

This video says that the helmet mic serves as a decent face scratcher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VCuaZCRn1U

I've also read that many astronauts put strips of adhesive Velcro in their helmet for this purpose: https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/42012/nose-scratch...

At the start of the jump he started spinning out of control, but he regained it later. I always thought he just got the hang of it, but if he was claustrophobic, maybe he panicked a bit before composing himself.

    he started spinning out of control
    he regained it later.

At such high altitude, the atmosphere is so thin that controlling a spin is near impossible. Skydivers use the airflow over their body to turn / move / control their motion. If there's no atmosphere, and therefore no airflow / friction, there's no control. There weren't any thrust engines on his suit!

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