Circumnavigation

It wasn't the prize they so badly wanted, but the Europeans who tried unsuccessfully to orbit the globe in a balloon notched a second world record Friday before landing safely today in a Myanmar rice paddy 90 miles north of the Burmese capital. The crew of the Breitling Orbiter 2 set the record for the longest nonstop unrefueled flight by any aircraft on the final leg of its journey from the Swiss Alps.

One day into his quest to become the first balloonist to circle the globe, Steve Fossett was traveling about 80 mph at 22,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, about 70 miles southeast of Bermuda. He is expected to reach Europe by Saturday. "Everything looks to be in flawless condition," said Alan Blount, "mission control" director in St. Louis. "I think our odds are increasing that this thing's going to succeed."

Steve Fossett's quest to become the first person to pilot a balloon around the world nonstop was in jeopardy Sunday, plagued by low winds and heater malfunctions that left him shivering in his cockpit. It is "very unlikely" Fossett will complete his trip, Alan Blount, mission control director, said Sunday afternoon. "Steve is very cold. . . . I honestly don't know the duration of this flight," Blount added.

A British adventurer's attempt to walk around the world was in jeopardy after a Russian court ordered him deported for entering the country illegally. Russian officials told Karl Bushby he would not be permitted to return for at least five years, a development that would end his quest, said Bushby's father, Keith. Keith Bushby said his son would appeal. Karl Bushby, 37, has walked 17,000 miles since he began his trip on Nov. 1, 1998. He was detained after crossing the frozen Bering Strait.

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett decided Wednesday night to press ahead with his attempt to fly around the world solo without refueling, despite a serious problem earlier in the day with the plane's fuel system. Fossett and his flight crew agreed to keep the Global- Flyer in the air rather than abandoning the record-setting attempt and setting down in Hawaii. He discovered the problem with the fuel system of the custom-built plane early Wednesday.

U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett headed across the Indian Ocean, trying to find an altitude that would carry him neither too far north nor south to reach Australia in his bid to become the first to fly around the world nonstop in a balloon. Fossett, a 54-year-old financial markets millionaire, was 800 miles southeast of Cape Town, South Africa, at 24,574 feet, a spokesman for his St. Louis-based team said. He had traversed 6,778 miles since leaving Argentina Friday.

Three pilots on Thursday unveiled plans to use a NASA-designed helium balloon, thin as a sandwich bag and nearly as tall as the Empire State Building, to circle the globe at the edge of space. The three men plan to lift off from Australia in late December or early January and cruise at an altitude of about 130,000 feet. Riding in a space capsule, the trio will cruise about 80,000 feet higher than any manned balloon has ever attempted. No balloonist has ever successfully circled the Earth.

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett finally got permission Friday to fly over Libya but his crew said the delay could still jeopardize his round-the-world balloon flight. The 52-year-old Chicago securities trader had been forced to decrease altitude to avoid Libya during the negotiations, losing speed and wasting fuel. As he crossed Niger on Friday, his crew said the delay may have hurt his chances of becoming the first balloonist to circle the globe nonstop.

Sweeping along on powerful and brutally cold jet-stream winds, millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett headed across the Atlantic on Tuesday on his quest to become the first balloonist to circle the Earth nonstop. The 52-year-old Fossett, who lifted off from Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Monday night, was over the Atlantic Ocean 120 miles east of the North Carolina coast by Tuesday afternoon and said all was well despite overnight problems with one of two heaters.

A U.S. securities dealer-turned-adventurer hopes to lift off from a dry riverbed in South Dakota today in a bid to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe by balloon. Steve Fossett, 51, who last year became the first to cross the Pacific Ocean solo in a balloon, hopes to make his nonstop global journey in 16 to 21 days. "We're going. We expect a launch," Bo Kemper, spokesman for the project, said from his office in Chicago.