CONTACT:  Patricia Viets, NOAA                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                              8/18/98

An emergency signal from U.S. hot-air balloonist Steve Fossett's emergency beacon was first detected by the international Cospas-Sarsat system, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. Fossett's balloon had fallen into the southern Pacific Ocean during a severe storm while he was attempting go around the world.

The Cospas-Sarsat system uses a constellation of satellites in low and geostationary orbits to detect and locate emergency beacons on vessels and aircraft in distress. NOAA represents the United States in this program, provides satellite platforms and ground equipment, and operates the U.S. Mission Control Center.

The signal from Fossett's Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was first detected by NOAA's GOES-10 satellite at 14:23 Greenwich Mean Time. The signal was processed by a ground station in Canada and relayed to the U. S. Mission Control Center in Suitland, Md. Within four minutes, the mission control center sent out an alert message to the U.S. Coast Guard, based on the EPIRB's registration data. The Coast Guard notified the Solo Spirit Mission Control in St. Louis, Mo., who in turn contacted the Australian search and rescue forces.

The initial detection and subsequent detections from NOAA polar-orbiting satellite passes allowed rescue forces to locate and pick up Fossett. At 16:02 GMT, location information was available on both the EPIRBs carried by the "Solo Spirit" via NOAA-14, an environmental satellite operated by NOAA. Using the position information relayed by the NOAA satellite, the Australian rescue coordination center tasked aircraft from the Australian Air force and the French Navy to locate the downed balloon.