What was the hardest thing to cope with?
I think it was the cold. When our heating system failed due to the pilot flame becoming choked by the ice build-up in the second week of the flight, it got pretty chilly. Then we had to climb higher and higher as the flight progressed, and it got even chillier. It was almost impossible to exercise in the confines of the capsule, so one had to just sit there and fly the thing. The cold really saps the spirit and if the goal hadn’t been so huge in our minds it could have been easy to give up. The goal is the key really; it’s the thing that will keep you going in extreme circumstances. So when you tackle your own adventure, make sure your goal is a powerful one.