ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Balloonist Steve Fossett averted a thunderstorm by climbing to approximately 30,000 feet and thus Solo Spirit was able to go over the top of the storm. With the help of Argentinian air traffic controllers he climbed through some light snow, thunder and lightning until he finally saw the stars above him, so everybody knew that he was out of the storm. Another storm still exists several hours to the east of Fossett.

Fossett crossed from Argentina into Brazil at 6:00 GMT and from Brazil into Uruguay at 6:40 GMT. Solo Spirit is now traveling along the border of Uruguay and Brazil and is currently just northwest of Artigas, Uruguay.

Although it took just 40 minutes for the balloon to cross over the narrow southwestern tip of Brazil, Solo Spirit could easily slip back into Brazilian air space as it travels east toward the coast.

Fossett is currently traveling at 47 miles per hour (76 km/h) at an altitude of about 18,000 feet (5486 m). Fossett is expected to leave South America and head out over the Atlantic Ocean at approximately 13:00 GMT.

Current Balloon Locations and Time:

LATITUDE: 30° 23.18' S
LONGITUDE: 55° 58.9' W
HEADING: 107.5°
BALLOON DATE: 2001-08-17T08:10:00 UTC