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Airship Inflated To Create Monster "Stratellite"
yoderman94 writes "A huge inflatable vehicle as long as a 23-floor skyscraper is tall has become the world's largest airship in its bid to serve as a stratospheric satellite, or 'stratellite,' according to its developers."
Is the pilot named Cid?
I am officially gone from
Once again...thank you "press" for giving us useless measurements... is it's max speed measured in units of cheetah velocity, its volume measured in swimming pools and its weight measured in automobiles?
"It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance." - Thomas Sowell
How many football field lenghts would that be?
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
It's a large inflatable ship, but not compared with other lighter-than-air ships - here's one example
Additionally, carrying one ton at 20,000 feet is pathetic, since the propulsion (and power storage) requirements weigh many times that, and if you try to go higher (to reduce the power requirements) than the payload capacity drops as well.
Nothing to see here.
They should call it Cargolifter. What could possibly go wrong.
"as long as a 23-floor skyscraper is tall"
How many libraries of.....
ugh, never mind
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From TFS:
From TFA:
From Wiki:
Anyone else see the issue?
The Great Big Suppository in the Sky
L'esperienza de questa dolce vita (The experience of this sweet life) - Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
Tokyo is so screwed!
Why?
Here I was thinking it wasn't a real airship yet because it sounds like they have only filled the balloon, but not attached anything to the balloon yet.
At this point its just a balloon. It still needs its skin, engines, a compartment for pilot and or crew.
They have the air part down, now they just need the ship part.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
The first is that we need something like this to carry water for putting out fires. While it can carry a ton at 20K, it can carry much more at a lower altitude.
The second thought is that this can be used to transmit power as this tech gets developed. It can either take it from space, or from a beam below and then re-distribute it. Where that would be useful is in Afghanistan, or in disaster area. IOW, it would be to our advantage to work this out so that we can beam say 5 or more miles, with at least 60% efficiency.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I remember the "Echo" satellites from the early 60's. their orbital times were even published in the newspapers and you could see them move through the night sky. I know you can see the ISS when it's around, but aren't these sorts of baloons rather old-hat now?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
from TFA
But even the modern record-holder for size dwindles in comparison to airships back in their heyday, such as the 804-foot (245 m) Hindenberg.
There must be some strange use of the word "largest" that I don't understand
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
"Our airships are radically different designs that move beyond the performance limitations of traditional blimps or zeppelins by combining advanced technology with simple construction and the ability to fuel with algae, protecting our environment"
Fueling with algae protects the environment as much as buying a Prius. Alternative fuels do not protect the environment, they only reduce the damage slightly.
Am I the only one that started reading the title thinking they had made a giant airship that looked like Mothra only to be disappointed by the time I finished reading the title?
What I want to know is if we're going to waste expensive helium on this or inflate it with hydrogen?
Weather balloons, hobbyist stratospheric balloons, etc, are usually filled with helium. But the only rationale for using helium is that it doesn't burn. It's more expensive than hydrogen. It's less efficient than hydrogen, and we only have so much helium left. We're not sending up people. There is no reason to use helium, really.
It's time to get rid of the Hindenburg meme.
--
BMO
Fuck, Slashdot can't understand cyrillic!
If these huge airships become common place you can bet that it will not be long until we have 'airvertising' similar to what we saw in Bladerunner? I imagine a huge airship with a Geisha commercial plastered on one side.
"and we only have so much helium left"
That's the bad news. The good news is actually two-sided. For one...
For helium-3's true believers - the ones who think the isotope's fusion power will take us to the edge of our solar system and beyond - talk of the coming shortage is overblown: There's a huge, untapped supply right in our own backyard.
"The moon is the El Dorado of helium-3," says Savage, and he's right: Every star, including our sun, emits helium constantly. Implanted in the lunar soil by the solar wind, the all-important gas can be found on the moon by the bucketful."
So all of the helium we could need is on the moon, and if we can reach them, the gas giant planets. So the second part of the good news is that this gives us a real, economically viable reason to go back to the moon and stay this time... to actually build a base and commence helium mining and collection. And there's other resources on the moon waiting for us as well.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
it sounds like they have only filled the balloon, but not attached anything to the balloon yet.
Still time to rent it out as a condom.
TFA actually has the length.
By ignoring the actual length provided in and just relying on trying to calculate an estimation based included in the summary, which itself was used to give a frame of reference regarding the size, you've managed to *cough* inflate the size of this airship from 235 feet (72 m) to 368 feet, or nearly 37 floors! Uh-oh, here we go again!
American football fields do have end zones, while the other football does not. Does this factor into the estimation for the football field length conversion?
Won't someone please think of the end zones!
Hindenburg 2.0
Destined to Fail
Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
It still needs its skin, engines, a compartment for pilot and or crew.
They have the air part down, now they just need the ship part.
Yeah, except that your totally wrong.
read the article.
It isn't a satellite either, the proper name for that thing is "balloon"
His totally wrong what?
Well, if it creates all those jobs in Alabama, it obviously qualified for TARP money!!!!
And it is green!!!
Two for the price of one.
Yes, You're right. I got a chance to see this movie again recently when I found it as a DVD on the shelf of the local library. It's a forgotten classic. The plot, editing, and pace is crisp and timeless. The characters are scary and cruel without slipping (too much) into over-dramatic parody. The issues and background is as relevant now as it was then. And it's fascinating to see South Beach without all blonde T&A and psychedelic colors that characterizes CGI:Miami.
And speaking of hot T&A with not-a-little bit of B&D, Martha Keller's character Dhalia Ihad is one true bad-ass for the ages. "Zhere ahre no accidents!"
"A huge inflatable vehicle as long as a 23-floor skyscraper is tall has become the world's largest airship in its bid to serve as a stratospheric satellite, or 'stratellite,' according to its developers."
- it is a single sentence, one fucking sentence. How difficult is is to proofread one stinking sentence? I may make construct an unreadable sentence in my comments, I may make grammatical or syntax errors, but it is a comment, not a story on the front page.
What the fuck is "as long as a 23-foot skyscraper is tall"?
You can't handle the truth.
The HindenbErg, eh? I'd like that with my Cheeseberger in Pittsberg, before I lose all my money to a bergler, thx.
Hi folks,
Just pumping up a big bag full of air may mean something to the press, but it is a long way from that first step to a useful modern airship certified for public transport like the Skyship 600 used by Fuii Film to tour all over the USA and Canada. If you want to see more on modern airships try www.airshipblimp.com or if you just want a helium sniffing laugh try www.airship.me the worlds only lighter than air comedy site.
Regards Bond, James Bond from the Skyship in A View to a Kill, the last Roger Moore Bonf film.
... after all, I did this in a RIFTS campaign years ago to set up a global communications network for our group :)
Yes.. I am a huge geek. Thanks for asking.
Don't rush me, Sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
/Ali-G/ Me thinks dat it iz hacktually pronunced "Satrillights" ... Bo /! Ali-G"
At 72m length, this is tiny compared to the original Zeppelins. Hell it is even smaller than the new ones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_NT)
Is it me, or is this story full of hot air?
TFA: "and the ability to fuel with algae, protecting our environment"
All I can say is "short this now".
Literally anything can have "the ability to fuel with algae".
These guys are really reaching for the dumb money. That's a sign of desperation and/or a con.
Of course, I may be unfair to these guys given the kinds of people the capital markets have put in charge of investments...
Seastead this.
Am I the only one whose first thought at this headline was the flying party building from the Hitchhiker's Guide?
I can't imagine that this new venture will be significantly more productive...
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face - Ben Williams
First, the idea of using this in fire fighting is silly. It can't carry squat. It has a paltry carrying capacity of 2000 lbs. My shitty 1998 Honda Accord could tow more water to a fire. On top of that, it is slow and I am betting isn't going to be such an awesome platform to fly over a fire with. This is worse than a normal fire fighting airplane in exactly every single way, which is faster, caries more water, and can quickly fill up in a lake and hit the fire again.
Second, 20k feet up is more or less useless for "beaming" energy around. You are better off to just use a mountain at that point. As a bonus, the mountain isn't going to move and can carry a lot more than 2000 lbs of equipment.
The only use this thing has is as surveillance or maybe as a transmitter for something boring like a cell phone signal. Even then, it is only good for temporary measures. At 20k feet it is going to be kicked around by the wind and need to constantly be expending energy to maintain its position. I would be shocked to learn it can maintain its position for even a week.
Look again. It says that it can carry 1 ton up to 20K feet. However, it can carry a GREAT deal more at lower altitude (read denser air). And this craft can go 80 mph. Fuel is a LARGE costs of fighting fires.
How many mountains are there over Haiti? Or over Florida? Or over an Afghanistan base?
What I find interesting is that you speak of beaming data around via cell, yet,think that beaming power is not going to happen? The fact is that beaming power is being researched and happening now.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
This is a scam just like the many stratosphere airship scam companies that have been around in the last decade or so. They have no working product. They have no customers. It's all just a scam.
previous scam links
In the United States and Europe now draws the lower limit of a skyscraper at 150 meters (~500 ft). I got my own two floor skyscraper! Or at least I like to call it as one, even if it isn't one.
You'll find that helium is a substantial cost if you use an airship to fight fires. Dropping a ton of water gives an extra ton of lift, which will send you quite a lot higher. To get back down, you can either force it down with the engines or vent lifting gas. A cubic metre of helium gives about one kilogram of lift, so that's a lot of helium to throw away each time.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Dropping a ton of water gives an extra ton of lift, which will send you quite a lot higher. To get back down, you can either force it down with the engines or vent lifting gas.
Or compress it. However, this is still a very stupid idea, because helicopters can carry a fuck of a lot more than a ton of water. IIRC water weighs about 8.3lb/gal and the most popular heli for firefighting can lift 2,650 gallons, or about 21,995 pounds of water. Firefighting airplanes can lift an order of magnitude more.
So you get an order of magnitude more water by using a heli, and ANOTHER order of magnitude by using an airplane. What a retarded idea.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Length: 0.49 LoCs ; Top Speed: 890 LoCs/LoC ; Payload: .0000026 LoCs ; Flight Ceiling: 102 LoCs