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Blimps... In... Space...

Posted by michael on from the hindenburg dept.

LandGator writes "MSNBC reports a California company with an alternate launch site in Texas, JP Aerospace, is on their third test of a blimp system specifically designed to fly to space. Blimps. To Space. At payload costs around a dollar a ton to LEO. Their concept, first unveiled at the Space Access '04 conference in Phoenix last month (with a blog report here, include the Ascender, a ground-to-near-space blimp, which docks to a helium-inflated two-mile-long station at the edge of space, over 20 miles up. Another ship, also a blimp but specifically designed to reach orbit, takes the payload from there to LEO, using well-proven electric propulsion (AKA 'ion drive'). That trip to LEO would take up to nine days, but that's a good thing; for, what goes up fast, must come down fast, and speed is energy which must be bled off by either massive amounts of expensive and explosive rocket fuel, or through ablative heat transfer which has its own problems (as we have seen before). JP Aerospace has flown many PongSats -- micropayloads the size of a ping-pong ball -- for balloon or rocket-launch. Over 1,500 PongSats have flown to date, which demonstrates a track record in near-space few of the X-Prize contenders can approach. Oh, yes, the Air Force is interested."

5 of 511 comments (clear)

  1. Potential for a disaster by jb.hl.com · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Blimps in space?

    Hindenburg, anyone?

    (Sorry, but the idea of airships in space seems insane and unsafe to me)

    --
    By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
  2. Re:Cost to orbit by eric2hill · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Because hydrogen goes boom in a big way.

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    LOAD "SIG",8,1
    LOADING...
    READY.
    RUN
  3. Re:Cost to orbit by muertos · · Score: 0, Redundant

    There's an advertisement against the use of hydrogen. You may recall it. The Hindenburg? Granted, safety precautions these days would probably prevent something like that from occurring again, but there's still too many people who shy away from the thought of it. Give it another generation of publicly educated youth, though.

  4. Re:Cost to orbit by baudilus · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Except the blimp material would have to be nothing short of plane-proof. One bullet to the balloon and you've got another Hindenburg on your hands.

  5. Re:Crap? by RexRuther · · Score: 0, Redundant

    You said exactly what I was thinking. I hope they mode you up more!

    --
    -"The early bird catches the worm, but the late bird sleeps the most"