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Thursday, March 9, 2006 K-STATE STUDENTS SELECTED TO SUPPORT NEXT GLOBALFLYER MISSION SALINA - Kansas State University at Salina students will assume a major leadership role in the next record attempt of Steve Fossett, aviator and pilot of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft. The GlobalFlyer completed the world's first solo flight around the world in March 2005, and set the non-stop distance record last month. K-State at Salina students and faculty were involved in both previous flights. The next flight will be an attempt to set the closed-course distance record and is slated to begin and end in Salina. Unlike the 2005 flight, which also took place in Salina, Virgin Atlantic will not be sending staff to Salina for the flight. For that reason, K-State students, faculty and staff will be providing the leadership and infrastructure for the operations in Mission Control, as well as handling the Web site maintenance and mission updates throughout the flight. "It is no wonder that Steve has asked our students to be involved in this project," said Dennis Kuhlman, K-State at Salina dean. "He strives to encourage and inspire young people to work hard and achieve their As during the last Salina-based attempt, students were selected to support the flight planning, mission control and aircraft ground crew operations. In addition, a Web update team is being assembled and trained to assist with computer connectivity on the ground and updates to the Web site that will track the flight. It is estimated that the Web update team will eventually include more than a dozen students. Students selected to support the next GlobalFlyer mission are: Will Klein, senior in professional pilot and aviation maintenance, aircraft ground crew, Burrton; Justin Stuhlsatz, freshman in professional pilot, DeSoto, Web update team; Dan Kozak, sophomore in professional pilot, Lansing, mission control; Mike Newlin, sophomore in aviation maintenance, Minneapolis, aircraft ground crew; Eric Lawrence, junior in aviation maintenance, Minneola; Patrick Rinearson, senior in professional pilot, mission control co-leader, Olathe; From Salina: James Reed, senior in aviation maintenance, aircraft ground crew; Josh Hill, sophomore in aviation maintenance, aircraft ground crew; and Cristina Thurlow, sophomore in applied business, Web update team. Landon Truetken, junior in aviation maintenance, Selden, aircraft ground crew; Nancy Milleret, senior in professional pilot, mission control co-leader, Tonganoxie; Brian Weber, junior in professional pilot, Wichita, Web update team leader. From out of state: Jill Hudson, senior in professional pilot, Culver, Ind., mission control; and Ryan Courtney, senior in professional pilot, Centennial, Colo., mission control. Similar to previous record attempts in the GlobalFlyer, this flight also will require cool temperatures for takeoff and a favorable jet stream around the world. Additional information about K-State's role in the upcoming flight, as well as mission tracking information when the flight has begun, will be posted online at |