Slashdot Mirror
Balloonists Attempt World Altitude Record
ACey writes "BBC News is reporting on the latest attempt to break the balloon altitude world record. Qinetiq 1 is scheduled to launch tomorrow, 2nd September 2003, from the coast of Cornwall, UK, and aims to reach 132,000 feet or 25 miles in a flight that could last 12 hours. The balloon is so big (1,250 feet tall) that it should be visible from most of the UK, Ireland and Western France as it climbs. Good luck to them!"
Note: I fully realize that to reach that altitude, they would have to use helium. Grow a sense of humor.
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The first transmission from the balloon will be "Can you hear me now?
Trolling is a art,
Hm. If they could launch it again in a suitable time window, would this be eligable for the X-Prize?
Because he can. Are you new here?
I knew if I wanted to conceal the departure of our ancient alien visitors I too would construct a 1,200 foot balloon and tell people it was trying to break an altitude record.
This just prooves our alien overlords point - we deserve to get our brains eaten.
Hate to break it youy bud, but I got my Daisy Brand Red-Ryder BB rifle, and your'e not going anywhere!
;)
Sorry to burst your bubble.
...40,000 metres (40 kilometres) up in a balloon 381 metres tall...
See here.
Selected quote:
"The two men will not eat during their mission, and they are hoping they will not have to go to the toilet either. A special fibre-free diet will begin three days before the trip in the hope that waste will be kept to a minimum."
All I can say is -- Holy crap!
The manhigh project in the late 50's early 60's included a parachute jump from about 100,000 feet. This was about the height that the Challenger exploded and the jump shows that the crew of the Chalenger could have survived had the technology developed in the manhigh project been avilable to them.
The guy who jumped reached a speed of over 700 miles per hour for part of the fall.
after seeing hot grits like this, I'm now convicing my wife that I should go high-altitude balooning asap. If only I could explain the mandatory difference in male and female costumes
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
With a good high-gain antenna, they should be able to access wireless LANs for quite a distance. Were I in the vicinty, I would be honored to have them posting their progress through my network.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
...they'll achieve altitude records without even leaving the ground.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
http://www.cameronballoons.co.uk/index.cfm
"The worlds' largest balloon maker"
based in Bristol in the westcountry where they have one of the worlds' largest balloon festivals every year.
h
Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
Actually, they could've used kilolight-nanoseconds (light travels about 30 centimetres in a nanosecond, which is close enough to a foot).
The US Army: promoting democracy through unquestioned obedience
I write this letter to you balloon pilots in hopes that when you are up there you will do me a favor.
About a week ago I tied lil Sparky, our family Chiwwawwawa, to about ten helium balloons to see if they could lift him off the ground. Needless to say, it did. After ten minutes of riding my Green Machine through town following poor old Sparks I lost sight of him some where near the Rockies.
So, if you happen to see Sparky some where up there in the great wild blue yonder during your travels will you fetch him for me? Don't know if this is possible cause the kid next door who is into h4ck1ng and Slashdot and all that other stuff keeps saying something about the decrease in atmospheric pressure at those heights and that either the balloons will pop or Sparky's large intenstines will explode. Either way bad news for Sparks. So PUH-LEASE keep on the lookout for a dog with ten balloons tied to his collar.
Jimmy Smigerwitz
PS. He will be the dog with the Red Power Rangers collar in case you see more dogs tied to balloons up there.
Acording to NOVA, the standing record is 113,739.9 ft (~ 35 km) was set in 1961. Back then however these people were pretty hardcore, as it was too technical to pilot the balloons back down, they would jump (with a parachute).
My grandfather and his brother were some of the balooning pioneers in the US, and I actually had the oppertunity (when I was much younger) to acompany my grandfater taken up in a balloon by Joe Kittinger (first altitude record of ~100,000 ft and the longest freefall to date-where he actually broke the sound-barrier unaided by propultion other than gravity). We didn't go to 100 kft but even back then (I think I may have been about 7) it was quite an experience.
"Should the suits fail at 35,000 feet (10,668 metres) Andy and Colin would lose consciousness. At 80,000 feet (24,384 metres) the pilots would die within a matter of seconds, as the low pressure would make their blood boil almost immediately."
ow...
Actually it was British jerks (the word behind the first initial in BBC does give away the plot a bit). But yes, I do agree with your elegantly stated request. Believe it or not, the British Army went metric in, I think, around 1948. The rest of the country will doubtless catch up with the rest of Europe shortly after Hell freezes over.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/03/b allooning/html/glider.stm
"The technology behind Zephyr could be used as a communications platform for mobile phones in remote areas, or disaster zones, or even by the military for surveillance."
happy...?
"Should the suits fail at 35,000 feet (10,668 metres) Andy and Colin would lose consciousness. At 80,000 feet (24,384 metres) the pilots would die within a matter of seconds, as the low pressure would make their blood boil almost immediately."
All this gory talk makes good copy, but it ain't necessarily so: You would lose fluids as vapour from your airways, but this would be gradual. Images of blood boiling in your tortured veins is simply alarmist. Your blood pressure is high enough, and your veinous system is elastic and resilient enough to prevent bulk boiling occurring. More details are here , and essentially all over the web. The seminal publication is "Bioastronautics Data Book, Second edition, NASA SP-3006", which I can't find online, unfortunately. Them Rocket Scientists sure know lotsa stuff!
T&K.
Political language
it does!
type "100 feet in meters" into google and see what happens.
Launch date got put back 24hrs after the (BBC) article was posted - check the main bbc news site for a brief article on the delay.
As well as the balloon record they are flying some remote controlled (from the gondola) drone which I expect is going to be a record height too.
So we have very high altitude unmanned drone being tested - now that sounds like the military's cup of tea...
In case anybody is reading this far, the launch is on hold until 3-9 due to inclement weather.
"Conditions were not suitable for the launch. All being well, it will happen as planned on Wednesday morning," said the spokesman.
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
Loss of pressure has happened in one famous incident at NASA in the eighties when a space suit failed in a test chamber. The chamber was rapidly repressurized and the tester showed no ill effects (i.e., no bends). The bends take some time to happen. When diving, it may take some tens of minutes for the effects to become severe. Small N2 bubbles in the blood are nasty but until they become larger i.e., by aggregation, they are not major. With immediate recompression, the N2 will quickly dissolve again.
The Soyuz 11 incident was also disclosed when the Russians started cooperating with NASA. In this case, the crew seemed to have about 30 seconds (the cabin took a little time to depressurize).
There is even an idea that has been floating around about having an unpressurised space suit - i.e., just the helmet would be pressurized. The rest of the suit would be elasticated, which would provide counter-pressure to the skin, to prevent swelling.
See my journal, I write things there