Tycoon Makes Another Round-the-World Balloon Bid

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 20, 2002

Tycoon Makes Another Round-the-World Balloon Bid

American adventurer Steve Fossett drifted high above Australia on Wednesday, after launching his sixth bid to become the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon.

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American adventurer Steve Fossett drifted high above Australia on Wednesday, after launching his sixth bid to become the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon.

Luc Trullemans, the mission's chief meteorologist, called upper-level atmospheric conditions "very great," with strong winds blowing from the west.

Trullemans said Fossett ideally would reach New Zealand in two to three days, then cross the south Pacific and reach the coast of Chile in six days. Fossett's goal is to complete the trip in 15 days.

Fossett, a 58-year-old investment tycoon with a yearning for adventure, clambered into his closet-size capsule around dawn wearing a parachute and crash helmet. Then, as winds that had delayed his launch for hours dropped, he fired propane burners to heat the helium and air filling his 140-foot-high balloon and rose into the blue skies over Northam, a western Australian farming town.

Fossett holds world records in ballooning, sailing and flying airplanes. He also swam the English Channel in 1985, placed fourth in the Iditarod dogsled race in 1992 and participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race in 1996.

A balloon already has flown around the globe: Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and Englishman Brian Jones completed the trip as a team in 1999.

Fossett's last attempt, the one that ended in the Brazilian field, lasted 12 days, making it the longest solo balloon flight.

But it also was plagued by worries that Fossett did not have enough oxygen. This time, he is taking twice as much.

The mission control center will monitor the flight and weather and regularly communicate with Fossett via e-mail and satellite phone.

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