Intro music.
Virgin Atlantic's GlobalFlyer gracefully took off from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a bold mission to fly into the record books.
Piloted by adventurer Steve Fossett, GlobalFlyer is attempting to set a
world record for the longest nonstop flight of any aircraft in aviation history.
Fossett plans to fly the aircraft once around the globe before continuing on to Kent International Airport in England.
Should the attempt prove successful, Globalflyer will have flown more than
26,000 miles and bested the previous world mark by hundreds of miles.
Kennedy Space Center was chosen as the point of GlobalFlyer's departure because of the
center's world class facilities and unusually long space shuttle runway.
Spanning 15,000 feet, the lengthy runway provided enough room for the heavily fueled GlobalFlyer to take flight.
The single-engine GlobalFlyer is a one-of-a-kind aircraft made of
ultra-lightweight composite materials and equipped with 17 fuel tanks.
If all goes well, GlobalFlyer will safely land in England 80 hours after liftoff, light on fuel but holding a hefty record.