19990921032139A

(-23) Student pilot was late returning from a solo cross-country flight. He arrived at his final destination after sunset and was high on his first approach. He made a second attempt to land and again was high and landed long tounching down on the nose wheel, causing it to collapse. The student had completed all but 0.4 hours of his required night training. (.4) the solo student pilot landed the airplane hard on the nose landing gear after touching down long on the 4,165 foot long runway. The airplane subsequently bounced and porpoised, resulting in the collapse of the nose landing gear. The student pilot was scheduled for a two-leg day VFR cross country flight. During the first leg of the flight, the student pilot was temporarily disoriented, and ended up flying 30 minutes beyond his intended destination. The pilot was able to land at an airport, where he topped off the airplane with fuel. The unscheduled landing delayed the pilot's scheduled itinerary by at least one hour. Dark night conditions prevailed by the time he entered the traffic pattern on the downwind leg for runway 30. The pilot reported that he was high on his first approach, and executed a go-around. The student pilot had 2.6 hours of night flight with his flight instructor, and he had not been cleared for night solo flights.