DailyDirt: High-Flying Balloons FTW!

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Before the Wright brothers and planes, people had actually flown in hot air balloons as early as 1783. Those early balloons didn't travel that far -- just a few miles or a couple dozen miles if the balloons were filled with hydrogen. Blimps (aka airships) were somewhat common in the early 1900s, but obviously that mode of transportation didn't really stick around after the spectacular demise of the Hindenburg. Perhaps we're due for a comeback for more advanced balloons now? After you've finished checking out those links, check out this holiday gift guide for some awesome deals at the Techdirt deals store.
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Filed Under: airships, balloons, blast telescope, leo, parafoil, project loon
Companies: google, nasa, world view


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2015 @ 5:25pm

    aerogels?

    how about filling an aeorgel with hydrogen to create a safer balloon/blimp?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2015 @ 6:38pm

      Re: aerogels?

      According to video of very confused people in the middle east from a few years ago, you are way too late with this suggestion. Think oddly substantive clouds.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2015 @ 5:42pm

    >Perhaps we're due for a comeback for more advanced balloons now?

    Don't worry, your tax dollars are on it!

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/29/us-usa-military-blimp-idUSKCN0SM2F920151029

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 30 Nov 2015 @ 6:45pm

    Zeppelins Are Not Blimps

    For conflating the two, your punishment is to visit TV Tropes and then spend the rest of the day trying to return to normal work.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Nov 2015 @ 6:49pm

    Really Advanced

    Use something like the Mirasol tech from Qualcomm in transparent skin blimps to concentrate sunlight in heat sinks during the day. At night you use this stored heat to maintain temp and pressure at the desired levels. If you can set the angles to trap the heat internally, the whole thing becomes even more useful.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Seth (profile), 30 Nov 2015 @ 9:03pm

    Still Flying

    Huh, nice to see some links to BLAST on Techdirt! We've upgraded our systems are are looking at another flight next year. We're at a 30 day flight with over 2,000 pixels this time.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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