Hopes deflating for space balloon launch

The balloon's gondola is moved to the launch pad at sunrise Wednesday INTERACTIVE Layers of the atmosphere RELATED AUDIO Pilot Dave Liniger talks about the flight 'Including today, we're down to five days ...' 374 K / 13 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 'We're really optimistic ...' 249 K / 08 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

ALICE SPRINGS, Australia (Reuters) -- After frustrating delays, two men who aim to fly a balloon non stop around the world face growing doubts their plan is any more than hot air.

Unlike millionaire adventurers Richard Branson and Steve Fossett, who at least got airborne in their failed attempts to be the first to win that record, would-be pilots David Liniger and John Wallington are still stuck in the Australian outback.

Grounded in the desert town of Alice Springs, Liniger, an American, and Wallington, an Australian ballooning champion, await the ideal but elusive weather conditions to launch their bid to circumnavigate the globe -- on the very edge of space.

"I feel like the bride that got left at the altar -- all dressed up and no place to go," Liniger told an Australian newspaper this week.

The attempt could still go ahead as early as daybreak in Australia on Thursday, with preparations starting as usual at about midnight (1400 GMT), but organizers said late on Wednesday the chances appeared to be "minimal."

If they make it, Liniger and Wallington plan to soar almost 40 km (24 miles) above the Earth with a helium-filled weather balloon the size of a 40-story building.

Its pilots have been outfitted in Russian spacesuits as they prepare to take on the risks of the stratosphere: temperatures way beyond freezing and a near-vacuum in air pressure.

No manned balloon has ever gone where Re/Max promises to go in its bid to sail above the turbulent winds and storms that have undone earlier balloon attempts made at lower altitudes.

Liniger suits up for a launch attempt earlier this week

Trouble is, it's been either too windy and rainy on the ground to attempt a launch. Day after day, liftoff -- originally scheduled for December 27 -- has been postponed.

With each delay, and with journalists from Australia and the United States waking in early-morning darkness only to be cheated by another aborted start, doubts about the launch are growing.

The flight originally was to have been made by three pilots, but the team suffered another setback when it realized it needed to reduce the load. American Bob Martin agreed to bail out.

Re/Max media director Bill Echols told Reuters the delays were frustrating but necessary.

"This isn't like getting into your private airplane and taking off whenever you want to," he said. "This is a very, very fragile balloon which must be launched in the best conditions possible ... we've got human life on board this payload."

Echols said the bid had only about another four day's grace because key volunteers were due to return to their work.