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World's First Solar-Propelled Blimp To Cross English Channel

Posted by timothy on from the all-I've-got's-this-sunny-afternoon dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Can a blimp propelled entirely by solar power cross the English Channel? We're about to find out! Nephelios, the world's first solar blimp, was built by Projet Sol'r — a collaboration between students at engineering and technical schools in France. Now, almost a year after its debut (and a year after it was supposed to launch), the helium-filled airship is ready for action, with its inaugural flight set to take place next week. The blimp is covered in semi-flexible solar cells that can generate up to 2.4 kilowatts — enough to keep the blimp moving at 25 mph as it crosses la Manche."

10 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. This sounds like a good idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's fly our sunlight-powered flying machine in the most overcast place on earth!

    1. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hey, if it works there....

    2. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by mrjb · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Let's fly our sunlight-powered flying machine in the most overcast place on earth!

      Seems perfectly reasonable to me.
      First of all- the blimp is not going to crash- helium, not solar power, is what makes it fly. Solar power is just used to propel it.
      Second, it's possible to fly above the clouds.
      Third, it's going to fly across the channel. Even if it crashes, it's most likely to land on water.
      Fourth, aircraft regulations require avoiding densely populated areas if at all possible so even if it crashes on land, it will most likely miss any houses or other important buildings.
      Fifth, if against all odds said blimp crashes on land in a populated area, it's filled up with helium, not with hydrogen- so it won't burst into flames and as such it would be a lot less eventful than the Hindenburg. Which was a commercial craft anyway (with paying passengers on board), rather than a somewhat experimental craft attempting to cross the channel.

      --
      Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
    3. Re:This sounds like a good idea. by dave420 · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, Helium will not burn. It is simply impossible for it to oxidize.

  2. Top Gear by JazzXP · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As long as it's not like the blimp they tried to use on Top Gear. Big plans, didn't really go so well (winds being quite nasty for them).

  3. Desperation from France by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow, and I thought people did crazy thinks to sneak over the border into the US. It's ok, guys, you can have another chance to get out of your group in four years! It's not the end of the world! Just don't try to mess with the Irish luck next time, they invented the four-leaf clover, you know.

    --
    Qxe4
  4. "We're about to find out!" by skine · · Score: 5, Funny

    "We're about to find out!"

    I think that these are the words that every scientist strives for.

    They don't come out too often, but when they do...

  5. Surely... by Jmanamj · · Score: 5, Funny

    The mammoth airship measures 72 feet long and 18 feet wide and has a nylon and polyethylene aluminum frame.

    Surely, with an airship so large, the earth will be plunged into darkness as it passes overhead!

  6. why is it dumb? 20 miles of floating is easy by fantomas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why is it so dumb? With the wind in the right direction you can float over the Channel / La Manche with no power in a few hours anyway, it's only 20 miles or so at its narrowest point. They'll have a support boat so even if the blimp crash lands they'll be able to fish the pilot out.

    I'd say it's great university students are encouraged to take on technical challenges. I'd say the risks are pretty low (and I am sure they would have been thoroughly checked out by the universities, nobody wants their students dying).

  7. Re:Solar-powered? by selven · · Score: 3, Informative

    Did they use solar power to produce the metal and/or carbon fiber for that plane? If not, then by your argument the plane isn't solar powered either. The helium in the blimp is not being consumed like a fuel source, it's just a structural component like whatever other materials encase it. Helium just happens to passively have negative relative mass compared to the medium the blimp is flying in, which lets the blimp fly.