Adventurer aims to fly on a puff and a prayer

Steve Fossett means to succeed with this flight

KALGOORLIE, Australia -- American adventurer Steve Fossett plans to set off Sunday on a quest to become the first man to fly a balloon solo nonstop around the world.

After weeks of waiting, Fossett's launch crew in this dusty gold mining town in the desert of the state of Western Australia were laying out the giant balloon, "Solo Spirit."

Fossett hopes the ungainly craft will carry him eastward around the globe and into aviation history, the Associated Press reports.

"I'm feeling good, healthy, but with the usual concern," Fossett said in comments posted on the mission's Web site.

"This is not just another round-the-world attempt; we mean to succeed this time. That's a tall order."

The launch is planned for late Sunday night Kalgoorlie time (Sunday morning GMT), when winds were expected to be light.

The millionaire investment tycoon is hoping his flight will be third time lucky -- two previous bids to become the first balloonist to fly solo around the world ended in failure.

If Fossett, 57, completes the record-breaking trip, he will spend about 15 days in a cramped, canary-yellow capsule, often breathing oxygen through a mask, the A.P. reports.

He will eat military-style rations and sleep no more than four hours a day during 45-minute naps.

To change fuel tanks for burners supplying hot air to the towering 140-foot-by-60-foot (43-meter-by-18-meter) balloon, he must clamber out of the heated cabin into temperatures as low as minus 50 F (minus 45 C).

Jet stream winds will propel the balloon around the world at speeds up to 210 kilometers per hour (130 mph) at altitudes reaching 9,140 meters (30,000 feet).

The planned flight path takes him around the globe in the Southern Hemisphere, spending almost 90 percent of his time flying over water, A.P. reports.

In 1998, Fossett came close to flying around the world but his flight ended abruptly when a violent thunderstorm ripped open his balloon and sent him plummeting into the Coral Sea 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Australia.

That trip landed him the world record for the longest balloon flight -- 22,908 kilometers (14,235 miles).

Using satellite technology, Fossett will be able to navigate and communicate with his control team at the Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, throughout the flight.

His rest room facilities are less high-tech: He has a bucket.