22 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY,JULY3,2002
Events in American Steve Fossett's sixth attempt to fly solo around the world, a 17,000 mi. (27,000 km) voyage:
Around-the-world balloon
Man travels the world in hot air balloon
The Associated Press
KALGOORLIE, Australia — In dark skies high above the ocean south of Australia, American adventurer Steve Fossett reached the milestone he has chased for more than six years becoming the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world.
balloon solo around the finish line," said mission controller Joe Ritchie as Fossett's silvery Spirit of Freedom balloon crossed east of 117 degrees longitude at 27,000 feet to complete the circumnavigation.
tion. The 58-year-old Chicago investment millionaire covered 19,428.6 miles on the trip, according to his Web site, finally succeeding in his sixth attempt at the record.
"It is a wonderful time for me," said a calm-sounding Fossett by satellite telephone from his cramped capsule, where he has spent two weeks living on military-like rations, breathing from oxygen cylinders and using a bucket as a toilet.
"Finally after six flights I have succeeded and it is a very satisfying experience," he added.
British tycoon Richard Branson — who also has tried and failed to do what Fossett achieved — paid tribute to the adventurer.
"What Steve has achieved is nothing short of remarkable. He has tried time and time again and never given up despite coming close to death on a number of occasions." Branson said in a statement.
"It was the last great aviation challenge. A challenge far more difficult than Lindbergh's crossing of the Atlantic. He deserves his place in the history books and no one can ever take it away from him."
Fossett was already planning his next adventure — flying a glider up to the stratosphere above 60,000 feet from southern New Zealand. He could launch that attempt later this month.
The meticulous preparation, combined with helpful weather made the flight almost uneventful.
Learning from previous failures, this time around Fossett had plenty of fuel, no rogue nations to avoid and enough spare oxygen.
"I'm going to talk to him about this next thing he is doing, because it scares me, frankly." Ritchie said.
"The best flight is not the most exciting flight. This flight has been boring," Ritchie said from Fossett's mission control at Washington University in St. Louis.
The voyage he began June 18 in western Australia took him exactly 13 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds.
After breaking the record, Fossett was planning to continue drifting across Australia for up to 18 more hours until he finds a safe place to land—most likely on southern Australia's vast Nullarbor Plain on Wednesday morning.
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