Steve Fossett Lands Safely in Australia

by Bernie Dorrough on 4 Jul 2002 As the media and team members patiently waited for confirmation of Steve Fossett's landing, a telephone aptly named 'the Batphone' rang in Mission Control. The caller was Fossett himself, officially informing the world that he had safely landed in Australia, bringing his historic mission to a close.

Upon hearing the news, all of the team members gathered to shake hands and hug in celebration, as Mission Control was filled with the sound of
applause from everyone present.

However, while Fossett landed safely and unharmed, the process was far from perfect. Via telephone, he explained during a press conference at Washington University in St. Louis that both the weather and the technical difficulties made for a rough landing.

'It was a very dangerous situation with the landing,' explained Fossett.

First, the landing site had ground winds approaching 20 knots, when ideally they would have none. This problem was compounded when the balloon envelope would not detach from the capsule, meaning that it could have 'dragged
forever,' according to Fossett.

Fortunately ground team members, such as Project Manager Tim Cole, were able to help Fossett pull the ripcord that detached the capsule from the
rest of the balloon.

Though the landing was more dangerous than he had hoped, Fossett said that the impact itself was actually very smooth, even less than one would feel jumping from a tabletop.

'The impact was really not too serious,' said Fossett.

Despite the risky landing, Fossett was in high spirits and still plans on attempting to fly a glider into the stratosphere by the end of July or the beginning of August. But for now, he will assist the team in Australia with transporting the balloon before heading to a press conference in Sydney.

While Fossett plans on heading home within the next day, the capsule of Bud Light Spirit of Freedom will travel on one more adventure. Fossett said that he received confirmation yesterday that it will be kept in the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It will be hung next to the 'Spirit of St. Louis,' the plane that
Lindbergh made famous when he used it to become the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an airplane.

To conclude the media conference in Mission Control, Joe Castellano, Anheuser-Busch vice president of retail marketing, passed out bottles of Bud Light to the team members and proposed a toast to Fossett, as the team held up signs reading 'Mission Impossible: Accomplished.'

'You proved successfully what a man with a dream can do,' said Castellano.

Upon landing, Fossett has accomplished three major achievements. First and foremost, he is the first person to complete a solo trip round-the-world in a balloon. He also achieved the record for the longest distance flown by a single person in a balloon, by going almost 34,000 km. And he broke the record for the longest duration for one person, staying in the air for about 14 days and 20 hours.

Filed by Bernie Dorrough, student intern, Mission Control.


For more information on the flight please visit our Web Page at
http://www.spiritoffreedom.com. Status and Telemetry data can be viewed from the web page or viewed on your WAP compatible phone or PDA at
http://www.spiritoffreedom.com/wap.asp.