The US balloonist Mr Steve Fossett floated in the dark skies over central Australia yesterday, hoping to put down his craft in the milder breezes of the outback dawn, having become the first person to fly solo around the world without a motor.
The 58-year-old millionaire's goal was to set down his 42-metre silver balloon near the isolated desert village of South Galway, in Queensland, around 9 p.m. Irish time, according to his mission control in St. Louis.
"At night, he can't see anything, but the winds normally die down at dawn," mission spokesman Mr Martin Schilling said.
Mr Fossett was taking a longer route that anticipated over southern Australia, bedevilled by high winds that delayed a landing.
"It's a very dangerous situation," Mr Fossett said yesterday from his closet-sized gondola hanging beneath the giant silver Spirit of Freedom balloon.
At one stage, he had to extinguish a fire in the balloon.
Mr Fossett took 14 days to become the first solo balloonist to circumnavigate the globe on Tuesday and had planned to set down in the outback north of the southern city of Adelaide yesterday evening. But the landing was ruled out by ground winds of 30 kph. He needs winds of 16 kph or less to land safely.
Mr Fossett crossed the finish line of his record-breaking flight on Tuesday when he passed 117 degrees east longitude over the stormy Southern Ocean, the same longitude he began his trip from in western Australia.
He had flown nearly 31,380 km around the southern hemisphere on his sixth round-the-world attempt.
By yesterday afternoon, Mr Fossett had travelled 33,724 kms and was at 28 degrees south and 140 degrees east, travelling at 46 kph in a north-easterly direction. He had descended to 1,615 metres to slow his speed.
Mr Fossett crossed the coast along the Great Australian Bight and had been expected to land near Woomera, 270 km northwest of Adelaide, and home to one of Australia's detention camps for illegal immigrants. But winds at Woomera were too strong.
As the giant balloon slows, it will become increasingly harder to control.
At a certain point, Mr Fossett must decide to completely deflate his balloon, after which time he cannot abort the landing.
Mr Fossett will also be hoping to find a lightly shrubbed piece of outback on which to land as he plans to crash into trees to slow down his helium and hot air balloon and bring it to a halt.