March 2000
(ISSN 0887-6061) is
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MAGAZINE
March 2000
Editor-In-Chief
Publisher
Tom Hamilton
Contributing Editors
Ron Behrmann, George Denniston,
Greg Livadas, Mike Rose, Peter Stekel
Columnists
Don Piccard
Staff Photographer
Ron Behrmann
Sam Blackburn, Bob Dicks
Tom Heinsheimer, Larry Retzack
Herb Schimdt, Brian Slemming
Lauren Woods
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tries togo solo RTW
Kevin Uliassi launched from the same
gravel pit near Rockford, Illinois on Febru-
ary22thathedidonhispreviousfailed
attempt. This timethe equipment performed
beautifullyas he“flew” the balloon down
totheCaribbeanwherehewasableto
pickup the jet stream to Africa and beyond.
Hismeteorologyteam,leadbyLou
Billones, had Kevin navigating past threat-
ening thunderstorms and flightending turns
of the jet stream. Once successfully into the
jetstreamflow,andwithpoliticalclear-
ances approved, Kevin lookedlike he had an excellentopportunitytobecome the first
toaccomplishanaround-the-world flightina balloon solo.
Unexpectedly Kevin terminated the flight in Myanmar, formerly Burma. In a press
conferenceafter returningKevinsaid,“Ifirstexperiencedproblemwiththe oxygen
deliverysystemoverIndia,whentheregulatorfeedingmyoxygenmaskfailed.I
descendedto21,000feetfor aboutanhourtobypassthisregulator andswitchedto
another system I hadusingat altitudesup to 30,000 feet. Itwas important that I return
to 32,000 feet as soon as possible to insure a good track
across China.
“Once over Myanmar,I madeanassessmentof
the remaining fuel and the status of all the systems for
a safe crossing of the Pacific. While the remaining fuel
was sufficient, at that time the oxygensystemdidnot
have the functionality or redundancy for a safe cross-
ing—Iconsideredthepreviousrepairunreliable.I
decidedthatIwouldnotcontinueathighaltitude
without afully operational, redundant oxygen delivery
system.”
Kevin’s landing site was ideal and theballoon is in
perfect condition.
ThisremarkableflightbyKevinisexpectedto
yieldnew insightsintohow the humanbodyadjusts
and reacts for long periods of time in an unpressurized
environmentataltitude. Kevinspent tendaysathigh
altitude,longer than early NASA experiments to evalu-
ate how the humanbodyreacts.
Kevin traveled 184.48 degrees, more than halfway around-the-world, an estimated
13,246miles in ten days,three hours, and 46minutes. Lookfor more coverage of the
flight in the April issue.
