Google Founder Offer $33M For Use of NASA Airship Hangar

theodp writes "The Mercury News reports that NASA is considering an offer from Google's billionaire founders to provide '100 percent' funding to save Hangar One. Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt have, through a company they control, proposed paying the full $33 million cost of revamping Hangar One, once home to the Navy's giant airships at Moffett Field, in return for use up to two-thirds of the floor space of the hangar to house their fleet of eight private jets. In October, the Googlers struck an agreement with NASA Ames calling for the use of their 'co-located' Alpha fighter jet to, among other things, help NASA mitigate wildfires and study global warming."

Comments

Re:Unmentioned

[Anonymous Coward]

The smaller hangers to the east of the runways were for blimps. Hanger One was built for the USS Macon, a rigid airship that was lost in 1935. It's a magnificent, incredibly large building, that is even more incredible when you realize that it was filled up by one object that flew.

The US Navy does own some lighter than air craft, including the MZ-3A which is a blimp. But, hey... it mostly floats.

Re:Unmentioned

[4way]

True; when you have the chance visit the museum right around the corner. Take one of the Docent tours, ours was great, they have tons of stuff to show.