Expects To Land In Salina Friday Afternoon

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 03.16.06 1700EST: He's over the Pacific, heading towards home. That's the latest news from mission controllers in Salina, Kansas watching over Steve Fossett's latest attempt at a world record -- this time, for the longest nonstop closed-circuit flight in history.

Mission controllers at Kansas State University - Salina are confident that, if the past two days are any indication, Fossett is almost home free. The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer's fuel situation looks good, and tailwinds are close to what the crew had predicted.

In fact, this flight -- Fossett's third record-breaker in the GlobalFlyer -- has gone far more smoothly than any of his other flights by a wide margin. Fossett is expected to make landfall tonight over Baja California, before turning northeast towards Kansas.

As he made his way over the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii, Fossett even had some time to chat -- via satellite phone -- with Astronaut William McArthur onboard the International Space Station Thursday morning.

Right now, Steve is flying some lazy s-turns over the ocean -- adding miles to his course, to insure he breaks the record first set by the Voyager crew in 1986 -- heading towards touchdown in Salina sometime Friday afternoon.

FMI: www.salina.k-state.edu/globalflyer/