An American millionaire, Mr Steve Fossett, was recovering last night after his fourth attempt to fly a balloon non-stop around the world ended in failure in Russia.
Mr Fossett - stymied by low winds, low fuel and equipment problems that left him shivering in his cockpit - landed about a third of the way into his trip, some 50 miles north of Krasnodar, the civil aviation authority in Moscow said.
Officials said the landing, near the Black Sea, was smooth.
Mr Joe Ritchie in the balloonist's US control centre said a Russian official had told the centre staff that Mr Fossett was "okay".
The mission control director, Mr Alan Blount, said in St Louis: "It's just a really, really difficult task to accomplish. We're getting closer."
Asked about the possibility that someone else will beat him to the record, Mr Blount said: "If they do, it's great. More power to them, but they'll encounter the same sort of obstacles."
Two other balloonists were preparing to make their own try this week. A pilot, Mr Dick Rutan of Mojave, California, veteran of the first non-stop aircraft flight around the world, and his co-pilot, Mr Dave Melton of Espanola, New Mexico, plan to take off tomorrow from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Mr Fossett (53), a Chicago commodities trader, took off from St Louis on Wednesday. He began running into trouble on Saturday when equipment failures caused problems with heat in the cockpit and directional controls, his chief engineer, Mr Tim Cole, said. Mr Fossett was running low on fuel. The heater failure, which normally keeps the gondola's temperature at between 45 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit, left the cockpit at about 24 degrees around Mr Fossett's feet.
In addition to the attempt in January 1997, Mr Fossett previously tried to fly around the world in January 1996, but was forced to land in Canada.