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Freeze frame: Selfie stick mania gives Swiss pilot in Russian space suit frostbite

Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan, who tested a space suit for stratospheric flights in late March, nearly froze his foot off because of the unsanctioned use of a selfie stick

Raphael Domjan EPA/LAURENT GILLIERON

Raphael Domjan

© EPA/LAURENT GILLIERON

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan, who tested a space suit for stratospheric flights in late March, nearly froze his foot off because of the unsanctioned use of a selfie stick, Zvezda Research and Production company CEO Sergei Pozdnyakov said in an interview with TASS.

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"Unfortunately, the Swiss pilot had a camera and a selfie stick with him during the test, though this was not allowed," Pozdnyakov said. "After using it [the selfie stick - TASS], he couldn’t think of anything better to do than to insert it into the heated shoe covers, disconnecting the heating insole. It is no surprise that his foot started to freeze," he stressed.

The test had to be stopped after two hours, when Domjan was no longer able to endure the cold. "This served as a good lesson for him, as well as for us, because no one should be allowed to carry random items when performing such experiments. However, the test’s positive outcome is that the system proved effective and the researcher had a chance to know what minus 60 degrees Celsius feel like, even when one is wearing thermally-insulated clothing," the company CEO pointed out.

Domjan is planning to conduct a stratospheric flight on a solar-powered aircraft in 2020. A Russian space suit has been chosen to be used during the flight, which the Zvezda company designed specifically for the program based on the Sokol suit. Cosmonauts travelling to the International Space Station on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft use the Sokol suits. However, the suit designed for Domjan has a different closed-circuit life-support system, which is reminiscent to that used in the Orlan space suits.

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