Around the World in 20 Days

(2 of 2)

On March 7 Piccard and Jones heard of a misfortune--and it was good news for their quest. On that day their competitors, the British team of Andy Elson and Colin Prescot, ditched over the Pacific Ocean. After setting an endurance record of 17 days, 18 hrs., 25 min. aloft, the duo, in the Cable & Wireless balloon, was knocked out by what amounted to a one-two punch. First, peeved that Branson's December flight had infringed upon its airspace, China denied entry to his countrymen, forcing them to follow a more convoluted route. And then, while traveling over Thailand, Elson and Prescot were hit by a thunderstorm that shredded their balloon's envelope. They survived, after a harrowing dunking in the Pacific.

Piccard and Jones had better luck with China. On March 10 the Beijing government allowed the Swiss-licensed Breitling access to its skies, so long as the craft stayed south of the 26th parallel. Nevertheless, morale on the Orbiter 3 started to flag soon after, as Piccard and Jones flew over the endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Progress toward Hawaii was slow, and they lost contact with mission control for four days. "I realized that the worst desert wasn't made of sand but of water," Piccard said when communications were re-established. Then the balloon popped out of its jet stream over Mexico and drifted in the wrong direction. They were using up precious fuel without making much headway. Even worse, a heater faltered, and temperatures on board plummeted to 46[degrees]F. Both pilots were exhausted, and Piccard had to resort to self-hypnosis to calm himself. But the duo pulled it together in the homestretch. Catching a 100-m.p.h. jet stream over the Atlantic all but assured victory.

At its end, Verne's novel asks of Fogg: "What had he brought back from this long and weary journey? Nothing, say you?" The names Piccard and Jones may not strike the same chords as Columbus or Magellan or Lindbergh or Armstrong. Indeed, last weekend's achievement is literally lighter than air. But Piccard and Jones have won the last world-spanning contest of our era. And now they are history.