Balloonist bids to fly nonstop around world
By Associated Press in Perth, Australia | China Daily | Updated: 2016-07-13 08:00
A Russian balloonist launched his helium balloon from an Australian Outback town on Tuesday in a bid to set a record for flying around the world nonstop.
Fedor Konyukhov launched his 52-meter tall balloon from the same field outside Northam in Western Australia state where American adventurer Steve Fossett started his circumnavigation of the globe in 2002.
The 65-year-old hopes to complete the journey in a cramped gondola in less than the 13 days that Fossett took. Fossett died in a plane crash in 2007.
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