Adventurer Steve Fossett

Steve Fossett talks with the media after piloting the record setting Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer to its new home, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on May 23, 2006, in Chantilly, Va. Fossett was reported missing Sept. 4, 2007, after taking off on a solo flight in Nevada. Wreckage, some of Fossett's belongings and bones later identified as Fossett's were found more than a year later near Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

Wreckage from the plane flown by Steve Fossett is seen Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, in a photo released by the Mono County Sheriff's Search & Rescue. Searchers found the wreckage of Fossett's plane in California's rugged Sierra Nevada just over a year after the millionaire adventurer vanished on a solo flight, and the craft appears to have hit the mountainside head-on, authorities said.

Aviation pioneer Steve Fossett smiles while climbing out of the cockpit of the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer after piloting the flyer on its last flight to its new home, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on May 23, 2006, in Chantilly, Va. The museum acquired the plane, which Fossett flew during the first nonstop, solo flight around the world without refueling in 2005.

Steve Fossett poses with the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer after piloting the globe-circling plane from Salina, Kan., to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on May 23, 2006 in Chantilly, Va. In 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon.

Adventurer Steve Fossett poses next to his aircraft the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer after landing at the National Air and Space Musuem, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Va., May 23, 2006. Fossett is the first person to fly an airplane solo, nonstop around the globe without refueling.

With its 114.2-foot wingspan and single jet engine, the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer and pilot Steve Fossett descend toward Dulles Airport during its last flight before arriving at its new home, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on May 23, 2006 in Chantilly, Va. Fossett also swam the English Channel, placed 47th in the Iditarod dog sled race and participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans car race.

Steve Fossett, right, is kissed by Sir Richard Branson after landing safely after declaring an emergency after loss of electrical power in Bournemouth, Sussex, England, Feb. 11, 2006. Fossett successfully completed the longest manned solo flight in history - 25,977 miles around the world in a specially designed plane called the Global Flyer. Branson, the billionaire media mogul, helped finance Fossett's adventures.

American adventurer Steve Fossett is helped out of his aircraft upon landing after declaring an emergency following a loss of electrical power at Bournemouth, England, Feb. 11, 2006. Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history after flying around the globe - and then some - in roughly 80 hours. He was forced to land at Bournemouth instead of his planned landing point in nearby Kent.

The Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer aircraft is seen in flight over the Atlantic Ocean Feb. 8, 2006. American Adventurer Steve Fossett eventually completed the longest manned solo flight in history.

Pilot Steve Fossett and his flight crew make final preparations to the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer before embarking on a record-breaking flight from the Kennedy Space Center Feb. 8, 2006, at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Pilot Steve Fossett speaks to the media after scrubbing a launch attempt in the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer from the Kennedy Space Center Feb. 7, 2006 at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Pilot Steve Fossett, left, and Sir Richard Branson, address the media in a pre-flight press conference for the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer at the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 6, 2006 at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

American adventurer Steve Fossett, center, stands with his wife Peggy and Sir Richard Branson March 3, 2005, in Salina, Kan.

A member of adventurer Steve Fossett's crew on the Cheyenne holds up a flare as they make their way around Mount Batten Point in Plymouth April 5, 2004, after becoming the first sailors ever to circumnavigate the globe in under 60 days, beating the previous record by almost six days. Fossett's 125-foot maxi-catamaran Cheyenne crossed the finishing line off Brittany, France, in 58 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds.

Adventurer and tycoon Steve Fossett celebrates breaking the world record for sailing non-stop around the world after mooring the 125-foot catamaran Cheyenne April 5, 2004, in Plymouth, England. He and his crew smashed the existing record set in 2002 by Frenchman Bruno Peyron, by almost six days, taking less than 59 days to make the 21,760-mile journey.

Adventurer and tycoon Steve Fossett and his crew celebrate breaking the world record for sailing non-stop around the world on April 5, 2004, after mooring their 125-foot catamaran Cheyenne in Plymouth, England.

American adventurer Steve Fossett is pictured with his pressurized space suit at Omarama airfield in Otago, on New Zealand's South Island Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003. Due to poor weather conditions Fossett decided to abandon his world altitude glider record attempt and returned to the United States.

With the Remarkables mountain range as a backdrop, Steve Fossett is photographed on his arrival in Queenstown aboard his Cessna Citation X aircraft from American Samoa, July 22, 2002. Fossett was hoping to attempt a world gliding altitude record from his base at Omarama in Otago, on New Zealand's South Island.

U.S. pilot Steve Fossett's Spirit of Freedom balloon floats at 21,000 feet June 26, 2002, some 220 nautical miles from Puerto Montt, Chile. Fossett was making his sixth bid to become the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the globe.

Balloonist Steve Fossett, who completed the longest solo balloon flight in history Jan. 20, 1996, but had to cancel his around-the-world attempt, is seen Sept. 21, 1996 in St. Louis, Mo.. He began his flight in St. Louis, Jan. 14 and ended it in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in India.