US adventurer Steve Fossett's dreams of becoming the first man to fly a balloon solo around the world lay in tatters yesterday -- after his balloon was ripped open by a freak wind gust before it left the ground.
Fossett had hoped the "Solo Spirit" would carry him around the world and into aviation history.
Instead, the 17-story balloon will be shipped to its makers in Britain for repair and tests. Dejected staff began inspecting it for damage yesterday before packing it up.
Midway through the inflation late Sunday, an unexpected gust of wind dislodged two tether lines holding down the balloon and ripped two 3m gashes in the silver envelope.
Fossett had not even climbed into the yellow cabin when the mission was aborted.
It was still unclear yesterday if Fossett would launch a sixth attempt sometime in the future.
Shortly after the failed launch, Fossett was reluctant to commit himself to a fresh bid.
"It takes a good chunk of a person's life do to this," he told a news conference in St Louis, Missouri, by telephone.
Hundreds of spectators, many clutching small balloons and eating hot dogs, had gathered outside the gates of the tiny airport in Kalgoorlie, western Australia, to watch the final preparations of the 42m-high, 18m-wide silver balloon.
Inflating the balloon with a mixture of hot air and helium takes hours and requires very light winds.
Bob Rice, the chief meteorologist at mission control in St Louis' Washington University, said winds had been too strong for inflation all day Sunday. When they calmed at sunset, inflation began -- only to have a 19kph wind gust blow the balloon over.
"It promptly went calm again, but who cares?" Rice said.
Fossett, 57, had planned to spend about 15 days in the cramped capsule, breathing oxygen through a mask, eating military-style rations and sleeping no more than 45 minutes at a time for a total of four hours a day.
Jet stream winds had been predicted to propel the balloon eastward around the world at speeds up to 210kph.
Fossett -- president of investment company Larkspur Securities Inc -- said this may have been his last attempt at the flight after four earlier failures.
"Well, I'm not sure there is going to be another attempt. We had put all our efforts into this attempt," he said.
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