Fossett set to set a new record: March with penguins

MANSTON, England (ap) -- American hero/billionaire Steve Fossett, who broke the record for the longest nonstop flight in aviation history Saturday, is preparing for yet another adventure, this time marching with penguins in the frozen tundra of Antarctica

Moments after completing the longest nonstop flight in aviation history with an emergency landing, flying 26,389 miles in about 76 hours, Fossett declared that his next record-setting adventure will be a miraculous love story. The chairman of a Chicago-based options market company will participate in the mating ritual of the emperor penguin. This summer, after a nourishing period of deep-sea feeding, Fossett will pop up onto the ice and begin his procession across Antarctica with a group of penguins.

Hundreds of penguins will converge upon the U.S. adventurer from every direction, moving instinctively toward their mating ground. Once there, they will mingle and chatter until they find the perfect mate--a monogamous match that will last a year, through the brutal winter and into the spring. During that time, the mother will birth an egg and then leave for the ocean to feed again. Fossett will stay to protect the egg through the freezing blizzards and pure darkness of winter, which would be deadly to practically any other species, but not to the resilient Fossett, who has never met a challenge he couldn't complete.

Finally, next spring, the egg will hatch and a baby Fossett will be born. The mother will return from the sea to reunite with the family and feed the starving newborn, while Fossett will finally be relieved of his protective duties after months without food. Then, he will plan his next adventure.

Fossett is no stranger to the record books. He's done a number of different things that are considered to be pretty major adventure. He has circumnavigated the earth in a hot-air balloon. He managed to sail around the world, he has apparently managed to swim the English Channel, he's done the Iditarod. He really is a renaissance adventure man. According to Daley Show sources, his lifetime highlights include:

* Feb. 28-March 3, 2005: First solo, nonstop flight around the world in an airplane.

* Feb. 7-April 5, 2004: Breaks the round-the-world sailing record by six days (58 days, nine hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds).

* June 19-July 4, 2002: First successful solo balloon flight around the world.

* Feb. 17-21, 1995: First solo balloon flight across the Pacific Ocean.

* Aug. 18, 1963: Breaks Stanford University record, drinking eight beer bongs in one hour.

* Jan. 14, 1961, 7:29-7:31 p.m.: Breaks record for going all the way, sexually, from first base to home with a high school sophomore.

* May 12, 1949: First solo, nonstop ride around the block on a Big Wheel.

* Dec. 1, 1945: Sets personal record of passing gas nonstop for 2 minutes, 8 seconds.

* April 22, 1944: Born in Jackson, Tennessee, after mom was in labor for a record-setting 92 hours.