NORTHAM, Australia -- U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett's balloon floated silently through the night sky over the Australian outback on Sunday as he made another attempt to become the first to fly a balloon solo around the world.
As darkness fell, Fossett's giant high-altitude balloon passed over the gold-mining town of Kalgoorlie at an altitude of 20,500 feet, a mission control statement said.
Fossett had floated almost 125 miles east since his launch from the small town of Northam, near Perth, just after dawn on Sunday.
He expects his eastward circumnavigation to take 15 days.
Fossett's last solo flight ended in near disaster in 1998, when a thunderstorm off Australia's northeastern coast shredded his canopy and sent him plummeting 29,000 feet into the Coral Sea. He was unhurt.
"That was the closest I have every come to losing my life," Fossett said before take-off. "I plan to survive (again this time)," he added.
The mission's chief meteorologist Bob Rice said that due to a delay in take-off, there was now a threat of thunderstorms on day two when Fossett was scheduled to pass over the Australian city of Brisbane heading toward the Pacific Ocean.
NAIL BITING
Rice said Fossett should have enough altitude to clear the disturbance. "The first nail biter will be in the same place (as 1998). We have something coming up right away and quick to focus our attention and Steve's attention," he said.
A glitch came within hours of take-off when Fossett was forced to repair a damaged communications antenna, which meant he was out of contact for four hours.
"Fossett climbed outside the capsule to change the antenna," said flight coordinator Kevin Stass. He said Fossett had since been in touch with Australian air traffic controllers.
Fossett, a millionaire former stockbroker, has made a series of failed attempts to circle the globe on his own in a balloon.
This year, the 57-year-old decided to launch in western Australia, about 400 miles from the Indian Ocean, to have a better chance of avoiding storms in the South Pacific and gain time to detect problems while still over land.
After leaving the Australian coast he plans to fly across the northern tip of New Zealand and on to Chile and fly over the Andes. The balloon is then expected to drift around the tip of South Africa and then head directly across the Indian Ocean. His flight can be followed at http:/solospirit.wustl.edu
Fossett said he was nervous about the start of the flight. "On the first night I will find out if everything works, if there are any leaks in the balloon, if there are any failures in communications and if the all important heating works," he said.
The adventurer said he had been suffering a cold but had recovered enough to take on the high altitude flight.
"I am worried about having a cold. I am afraid if you have a cold you could develop pneumonia," he said.
He said he would take a boomerang -- an Aboriginal curved hunting stick that returns when thrown -- with him on the flight. "I hope it works," he said before setting off.
