Flying Wing To Run On Sun-Replenished Fuel Cells

Saint Aardvark writes: "CNN reports here that a new flying wing is being powered by a combination of solar panels and fuel cells that suck up 100kWh every *day*. They hope to keep these(unmanned) babies up for six months at a time -- essentially making them cheap satellites. The $12 million price tag puts it a little out of reach for me and thee right now, but just wait 'til they get open-sourced...:-)" The question is, will this help meet my unbound desire for cheap, ubiquitous, unmetered, wireless Internet access?

Comments

Airships

[Dolohov]

A thought occurs to me: Since solar cells need a stable surface area, why not plaster these babies on the top of a dirigible aircraft? Without having to haul fuel, and with the electricity (to spare!) to heat a sizable cabin at high altitudes, it would be conceivable to run airships very, very cheaply.

Re:Airships

[fnj]

Ah. Lighter than air. A subject I actually know something about :-)

Regardless of your pronouncements, airships are actually well suited for this purpose. In fact, there are several projects to fulfill this type of mission with unmanned airships.

At the altitudes involved, there is actually an atmospheric layer where winds are comparatively light.

The large surface area available on a lighter than air vehicle makes it a natural for collecting energy from sunlight. Gas retention is not a problem. Decades ago, comparatively small free balloons were already flown for periods of six months or more. A far cry from a few days, eh?

There is actually currently a renaissance of airships the likes of which has not been seen since World War II. Zeppelin Metallwerken in Germany has developed a unique semirigid design, which will initially be marketed for touring. CargoLifter, also in Germany, has just completed construction of a vast hangar, and is about to begin construction of a ship capable of carrying bulky indivisible items of cargo up to 160 tons for delivery from hover at minimally prepared destinations. Advanced Technologies Group in Britain is flight testing a scale model of a another cargo carrying design which uses an air cushion to make a large advance in ground handling. Lightship, in Britain, is currently conducting successful trials in Kosovo of a land-mine detecting and surveying airship.

References:
http://www.zeppelin-nt.com/
http://www.cargolifter.com/
http://www.airship.com/index_frames.htm
http://www.airships.com/
http://www.mineseeker.com/
http://spot.colo rad o.edu/~dziadeck/airship/htmls/introduction.htm

Re:Airships

[ca1v1n]

For info on a prototype, look here. I can't tell you much more about it, except that the solar car team (which I am on) shares a lab with them and they often leave doughnuts laying around.

More background info

[Anne Marie]

NASA has a page on previous involvement with AeroVironment, including descriptions of all previous solar aircraft, starting back in 1971 and up to the Helios (the one in this article) and the ERAST program in general. These things have come a long ways in thirty years.