A: Steve Fossett is a 54-year-old businessman and adventurer from Chicago, Ill. He has climbed the highest mountains on six continents, competed in triathlons, raced at Le Mans, completed the Iditarod dogsled race and swum the English Channel. He’s the only man to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in both a balloon and a sailboat.
In his around-the-world balloon attempt in January 1997, he set the absolute world distance record at 10,360.61 statute miles and the absolute world duration record of 6 days, 2 hours and 44 minutes. (The duration record has since been superceded.)
In his most recent attempt, Fossett took off on New Year’s Eve 1997 from Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., and flew 5,802 miles, setting a record for the second-longest balloon flight in aviation history, exceeded only by the record he had set in January 1997.
Fossett, president of Lakota Trading Inc. in Chicago, Ill., received a master of business administration degree from Washington University’s John M. Olin School of Business in 1968 and serves on the University’s Board of Trustees.
A: He’s attempting to become the first person to circle the world in a balloon. This feat has never been accomplished, either solo or with a crew. It remains the last great aviation challenge.
Q: What happened on his last attempt?
A: After taking off from St. Louis at 5:04 p.m. (CST) on Dec. 31, 1997, Fossett ended the attempt at 5:27 a.m. (CST) on Jan. 5, 1998, when he landed his balloon in a wheat field near Grechanaya Balka in southern Russia. His flight duration was 4 days, 12 hours and 23 minutes. He flew 5,802 miles, achieving the second-longest balloon flight in aviation history (exceeded only by his own record of 10,361 miles on his 1997 flight from St. Louis to India). Libya was late in granting overflight permission, forcing Fossett to change course and encounter very light winds that slowed his speed to as low as 20 miles per hour. He also endured constant cold because of a malfunctioning cabin heater, and one of his two burners failed.
Q: What’s he doing differently this time?
A: There are several changes for this flight, both in the route and the equipment. Flying in the Southern Hemisphere means Fossett will have far fewer political problems because he’ll be flying over approximately five countries only, reducing potential problems in gaining overflight permission.
The balloon envelope will be much larger this time. It will contain 450,000 cubic feet of helium and 100,000 cubic feet of hot air. The larger size will allow Fossett to carry 40 cylinders of fuel as opposed to only 20 in the smaller balloon, and he will have four burners instead of two. In addition, a team of mechanical engineering professors at Washington University in St. Louis helped Fossett’s crew make improvements in the capsule’s heater and insulation.
Q: Beyond the obvious historic distinction, what happens if he succeeds?
A: He will receive a $1 million prize from Anheuser-Busch, which recently inaugurated the Budweiser Cup — an aviation challenge that was issued on Nov. 13, 1997, and extends through Dec. 31, 1999. The first person or team to complete the around-the-world journey will receive $500,000, with the remaining $500,000 going to a charity or nonprofit organization selected by the winner(s). Should Fossett win the Budweiser Cup, he will donate $500,000 to Washington University in St. Louis.
Q: How much does this trip cost and how is it being financed?
A: Fossett has no commercial sponsors. He has decided not to carry any advertising, in order to preserve the true spirit of adventure for this historic flight. He is paying the cost, which is estimated at $350,000.
Q: When and where is the launch?
A: Because weather conditions are unpredictable, a specific launch date cannot be set. However, in late July, a three-week period will begin in which the weather conditions will be optimal for a successful completion of the feat. Fossett will ascend from Mendoza, Argentina, which is about 600 miles west of Buenos Aires, the capital. Mendoza is in Argentina’s wine country in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.
Q: Why leave from the Southern Hemisphere?
A: Primarily because a route in the Southern Hemisphere avoids most, if not all, political problems related to gaining overflight permission from countries along the path.
Also because, in the Southern Hemisphere, it is wintertime, the season in which balloons must fly to attain long distances, since that’s when winds are stronger and more constant and there is less threat of thunderstorms. Winds in the Southern Hemisphere, because they’re over water most of the time, also are more stable, though slower, than in the Northern Hemisphere. (The air flow around the Northern Hemisphere is more complicated, or convoluted, because of terrain features.)
Q: Why launch from Mendoza, Argentina?
A: Mendoza, which lies just east of the Andes Mountains, is a good location from which to attain access to higher-speed winds, and it is the best compromise for logistics, longitude and ability to go north or south to pick up the higher winds associated with a jet stream. One typical jet stream is north of Mendoza, and the other is to the south. Fossett’s flight profile won’t be high enough to get into a true jet stream.
Q: What are the necessary launch conditions?
A: A high-pressure system and its associated light winds and fair-weather conditions are needed. Thus, a successful launch will require a lining up of the upper-air wind patterns with calm surface weather conditions in Argentina.
Q: Why not leave from the coast of Argentina?
A: To successfully qualify as an around-the-world flight, Fossett must land east of the longitude from which he ascended. If he left from the eastern coast of Argentina, he’d have to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean to qualify.
Q: What do launch codes Red, Yellow, and Green mean?
A: During the days before the launch, Chief Meteorologist Bob Rice is constantly evaluating weather conditions to determine whether a launch is advisable. The launch status is expressed as one of the following codes. Red means there is no possibility of a launch due to weather conditions. Yellow means the team is evaluating a possible launch date, but chances of a launch are still marginal and the forecast is still too long to be certain of conditions. Green means there is a high degree of confidence for a launch. However, even at Code Green, the launch can be shut down at any time if conditions change.
Q: What is the most likely route?
A: After launching from Mendoza, Solo Spirit will take whatever track seems best at the time. It’s more likely to go east and southeast, as opposed to northeast. Countries Fossett may fly over include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, then across the Atlantic Ocean, swinging south to the tip of South Africa. He then plans to fly east, crossing Australia and New Zealand before the final long leg over the Pacific Ocean back into South America.
Fossett will fly over water about 90 percent of the way, and the winds over acceptable routing areas will be relatively slow. (Because Solo Spirit’s capsule is unpressurized, it cannot fly at higher levels, where winds are faster, and the team has chosen not to fly at high latitudes, where winds are as strong as in the Northern Hemisphere, because that would mean a flight primarily over the southern oceans, a most inhospitable area.)
Q: How long would a successful circumnavigation take?
A: Solo Spirit would take about 18 days.
A: Yes. As established by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the rules say a pilot must set a course of waypoints within a band of the Earth that stays at least 30° latitude south of the North Pole or 30° north of the South Pole. The lines joining those waypoints (on a "great circle" projection) must stay outside those polar caps, although parts of the actual flight can drift inside them.
A: He’s using Global Positioning System (GPS), a satellite system that gives precise latitude and longitude positions.
Q: To what extent will Fossett be in control of the balloon?
A: He can control altitude by firing his hot-air burner. Wind directions are slightly different at varying altitudes, so he can change direction.
Q: At what speed will Fossett travel?
A: He will fly an average of 50 miles an hour.
Q: How high is Fossett’s cruising altitude?
A: Cruising altitude will likely be approximately 24,000 feet, which is also the desired maximum altitude.
Q: What if he has to land in the ocean?
A: The capsule has been tested to be seaworthy. As a backup, Fossett will have a four-man life raft, a survival suit and sufficient food and water should he have to land in the ocean. He has a satellite rescue beacon called an EPIRB (Emergency Position Identifier Rescue Beacon), which he would activate to alert the appropriate Rescue Control Center (RCC) of his position. The RCC would then dispatch the nearest ship to pick him up.
Q: What constitutes a balloon distance or duration record?
A: The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is responsible for establishing the rules for duration and long distance flight records. According to the FAI sporting code, Fossett's balloon is a class AM balloon, which is defined as a free balloon that uses both a lighter-than-air gas and an airborne heater, without a pressurized envelope.
In order to break the duration record Steve Fossett must be aloft for a time interval from take-off until landing in a single flight that exceeds the current record. The current record is 233 hours and 55 minutes set in January 1998 by Bertrand Piccard and his crew. To set the record Steve Fossett must exceed the existing record time by at least 1 percent.
The distance record is determined by a set of great circle arcs along the track between the take-off point and landing point during a single flight. These arcs cannot be shorter than half the radius of the Earth, 3185.5 km, and the average distance between arcs must not be less than 6371 km (Earth radius), according to the FAI. Further, the end points of these arcs must be documented, e.g., by GPS measurements or other means of establishing that the balloon passed these positions. The arc distances are added up, giving the total flight distance. In order to break the record Steve Fossett must pass his own mark of 16,673.81 km, which he set in January 1997. To set a new record Steve Fossett must exceed his existing record distance by at least 1 percent.
Q: What conditions will Fossett be dealing with in the capsule?
A: Spartan. His capsule will be unpressurized, unlike some of his competitors, and he will need to breathe from liquid oxygen cylinders most of the flight. His diet will consist of military-style MREs (meals ready to eat), warmed by chemical heating pouches. The capsule has a bunk with a sleeping bag. The lavatory is a bucket.
Q: What are the dimensions of the capsule?
A: Approximately 7 feet long, 4 feet 6 inches wide and 4 feet high. It is made of a lightweight composite of Kevlar and carbon, fitted with a plastic bubble hatch on top.
Q: What are the specifics of the balloon itself?
A: Fossett will fly a helium and hot-air balloon combination, known as a Rozière. The balloon envelope will be much larger than the one used in his last flight — containing 450,000 cubic feet of helium, as opposed to 270,000 cubic feet before, and it contains 100,000 cubic feet of hot air. The balloon envelope is 150 feet tall and 80 feet wide.
Q: How does Fossett’s Comstock autopilot work?
A: The computerized autopilot is the first operable balloon autopilot. It maintains a constant altitude for the balloon by controlling the burner. It does this by evaluating data and dictating when and how often the burner should fire. (The burner on the balloon regulates helium temperature. Helium controls the lift by expanding, helping the balloon rise. When the burner is off, the helium contracts, which makes the balloon descend.)
A: None. The Solo Spirit will be powered solely by wind currents.
Q: Is he carrying a reserve supply of fuel?
A: Based on projections, Fossett will be carrying enough fuel to last 20 days.
Q: What is the outside air temperature up there?
A: Outside temperatures will be about -30°F, with the possibility of -50°F.
Q: What is the Aerobot Payload and why is it on Solo Spirit?
A: The Aerobot Science Payload consists of a portable weather station mounted on the side of the Solo Spirit capsule. The Payload measures: atmospheric temperature, pressure, and relative humidity; vertical wind velocity; capsule position, heading, and velocity; and upwelling radiance. Data are relayed hourly through an Inmarsat mini-M system to the Payload Operations Center at Washington University for processing and posting on the web. The Payload is on Solo Spirit to collect data about the southern hemisphere troposphere and to test concepts for planetary balloon missions.
Q: Who is sponsoring the Aerobot Payload?
A: The payload was put together by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was flown during the January 1998 Solo Spirit Mission. This time the payload is on loan to the NASA Missouri Space Grant Consortium at Washington University. Staff and students from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences are managing the payload, data acquisition, and posting of results on the web.
Q: Why do you expect gaps in the science data returned from the Payload?
A: The science data are relayed to Earth using Inmarsat Mini-M satellite communications. The advantage of this protocol is that voice communications are supported, so Fossett can use the phone to contact mission control, as an alternative to his usual Inmarsat C satellite connection. Unlike Inmarsat C, Inmarsat Mini-M does not have global coverage. The most notable gaps in coverage are in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Click here for a map showing the areas of Mini-M satellite coverage.
Q: How can I find out more about aerobots as planetary missions?
A: Visit the Web site for the Planetary Aerobot Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
A: While it is customary in the United States to measure distance in statute miles, most other countries use kilometers. Nautical miles are often used for distances measured over an ocean. All these units are used in various locations on the web site. Here is how to convert between them:
1 kilometer (km) = 0.621 statute miles, or 0.540 nautical miles 1 statute mile = 1.609 km, or 0.869 nautical miles 1 nautical mile = 1.852 km, or 1.151 statute miles
Speed can be expressed in several different units. Here are some common conversions:
1 mile per hour = 1.609 km per hour, or 0.869 knots 1 km per hour = 0.621 miles per hour, or 0.540 knots 1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour, 1.151 statute miles
per hour, or 1.852 km per hour1 meter per second = 2.236 miles per hour, or 3.6 km per hour
Q: What about conversions for temperature and pressure?
Temperature is commonly measured in degrees Celsius, although in the United States people are used to seeing degrees Fahrenheit. Here are the conversions:
F = 32 + 1.8 C C = 0.556 (F - 32)
The pressure of the atmosphere can be measured in many different units, including pounds per square inch (PSI), atmospheres (atm), pascals (Pa), and millimeters of mercury (mmHg).
1 atm = 760 mmHg, 101,325 Pa, or 14.7 PSI 1 PSI = 6892.9 Pa
Q: What does UTC mean next to the date and time?
A: Throughout the Solo Spirit web site you will see the date and time followed by the letters UTC. UTC means Universal Time, essentially the same as Greenwich Mean Time, the time at 0 degrees longitude. Read more about UTC here.
Q: Where is Mission Control for the Solo Spirit flight, and what role does it perform?
A: Mission Control will be located at Washington University in St. Louis. It will be the meteorology and routing center and base for communications with Fossett. It also will be the receiving station for the information gathered by the science payload that is aboard Solo Spirit. A group of students and scientists from Washington University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts and Sciences (led by Raymond E. Arvidson, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department, and science coordinator for the flight and mission) will assist in the mission, processing the data received and tracking the position of the balloon.
The media center also will operate from the Mission Control Center, which is Room 300 of Brookings Hall, the university’s main administration building.
Q: How will Fossett keep in touch with Mission Control at Washington University?
A: A laptop computer will be Fossett’s primary means of communicating (by satellite e-mail) with mission control and his meteorology team. Transmissions will be via the INMARSAT C satellite, which sends the data from an antenna on the balloon to a satellite and on to receiving stations on Earth. It operates at approximately 2,400 bits per second. INMARSAT C, which is a satellite e-mail, will be the main means of communication with the mission control center.
Q: How can I send Fossett an e-mail message to wish him good luck?
You can't send him e-mail directly; only Mission Control can do that. However, you may leave a message for him using the online Guest Book. All messages from the Guest Book will be compiled into an album and presented to Fossett after the flight. Please don't expect a reply to your Guest Book message; there are just too many of them to allow for individual replies.
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This page was last updated
July 14, 1998 18:15 UTC |
