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'World View' Wants To Send You To the Stratosphere in a Balloon (bloomberg.com)
pacopico writes:
First World View hung Google SVP Alan Eustace at the end of a balloon and then dropped him 135,908 feet back to Earth. Then, it sent a KFC chicken sandwich to the edge of space. Now, World View has figured out how to get high-altitude balloons to sail winds in the stratosphere and travel for thousands of miles. They're being used to take detailed pictures of the Earth, send communications to far off places and learn more about the weather.
This strange company was founded by two people who lived in Biosphere 2, and they say they're doing all this balloon work to get people to think differently about the planet. In a few years, they plan to send people up to the edge of space in a capsule and let them hang out for a couple hours, while they sip cocktails and reflect on life or something like that.
The flights would cost $75,000 per person -- the money from KFC is already being used to build new software (along with sensors, and of course, durable balloons). Bloomberg Businessweek reports: Since the Zinger, it's conducted more than 50 flights, primarily for the U.S. government, and kept its balloons up in the air for many days at a time. "People want us to do things like sit over the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and look for pirates," says Taber MacCallum, co-founder and chief technology officer. The company plans to start flying for commercial clients early next year. "Basically, our mission is to take over the stratosphere," he says.
Interestingly, Elon Musk also asked MacCallum's first company to design a greenhouse for Mars.
This strange company was founded by two people who lived in Biosphere 2, and they say they're doing all this balloon work to get people to think differently about the planet. In a few years, they plan to send people up to the edge of space in a capsule and let them hang out for a couple hours, while they sip cocktails and reflect on life or something like that.
The flights would cost $75,000 per person -- the money from KFC is already being used to build new software (along with sensors, and of course, durable balloons). Bloomberg Businessweek reports: Since the Zinger, it's conducted more than 50 flights, primarily for the U.S. government, and kept its balloons up in the air for many days at a time. "People want us to do things like sit over the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and look for pirates," says Taber MacCallum, co-founder and chief technology officer. The company plans to start flying for commercial clients early next year. "Basically, our mission is to take over the stratosphere," he says.
Interestingly, Elon Musk also asked MacCallum's first company to design a greenhouse for Mars.
frosty, m'ladies
(tips chapeau seductively)
Can we all pitch in like $5 to pay some flat Earth idiot to go on this thing?
135,908 feet is about 41.4 km, for those wondering.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
But at any price it's a bargain. Here, attach him to this rope. (Hands noose)
Going on the presumption they have a ton of safety systems built in along with multiple redundant systems, this would be a very interesting ride. Looking up to see the blackness of space, out to see the curvature of Earth, and down to all the folks below.
My bank account can handle it, but it would be nice if they brought the price down.
I'm confused by this story, in part because I thought the edge of space was at an altitude of 100 km or 328 kft. That's the Kármán line. This is the altitude at which a vehicle would have to travel faster than orbital velocity to achieve sufficient lift to remain at that altitude. It's also approximately the altitude of the mesopause, where the mesosphere ends and the stratosphere begins.
The term "near space" is used to refer to the area between the Armstrong limit and the Kármán line, but saying that balloon flights are to the edge of space is confusing. That implies getting close to the Kármán line or slightly exceeding it, something that balloons don't do. The highest balloon flight I'm aware of was BU60-1, which reached an altitude of 53 km. I still don't think I'd call that the edge of space. By the way, the Armstrong limit is the altitude above which humans must wear a pressure suit to survive.
In terms of studying the weather, there's actually quite a bit known about the stratosphere. The stratosphere's lower boundary is the tropopause, at an altitude of roughly 10-16 km, depending on latitude and weather. It extends up to the stratopause, around 50-55 km. Temperature generally decreases with altitude in the troposphere and mesosphere, but increases with altitude in the stratosphere and thermosphere. Radiosondes are launched twice daily in much of the world and can often reach 35 km, which is well into the stratosphere. There's certainly research that's done on the stratosphere, but it's not like we don't have ways to study it. In fact, we already use high-altitude balloons to do that; a radiosonde is often referred to as a weather balloon.
It's much more difficult to study the mesosphere because balloons and other aircraft don't reach these altitudes. Spacecraft orbit above the mesopause, so they're not collecting data in this region except during ascent and descent. The mesosphere can be observed with rockets, but they only remain within the layer for a few minutes. It would be very interesting if they were able to improve high-altitude balloons to allow flight in the mesosphere. It's by far the layer of the atmosphere we know the least about.
Take a look at http://jpaerospace.com/ the current airship altitude record holders. Regular high altitude balloons, student "pongsat" outreach program, and a way of getting airships above the Karman line.
One thing the atmosphere does for us is block cosmic radiation, both solar and interstellar. Once you get high enough above sea level, you lose much of that protection. According to http://www.bbc.com/future/stor...
> In the US, pilots and flight attendants have been officially classed
> as "radiation workers" by the Federal Aviation Administration
> since 1994. Staff regularly working on high-latitude flights are
> exposed to more radiation than workers in nuclear power plants.
That's from flying up to 35,000 feet ASL (Above Sea Level). According to https://www.sablesys.com/suppo... air pressure at 35,000 feet (10,000 metres = approx 33,000 feet) is approx 24% of sea level pressure, so you've lost 76% of atmospheric protection. At 100,000 feet (30.5 km) pressure is approx 1% of sea level pressure, so you've lost 99% of protection.
I can imagine warnings for pregnant women, etc.
I'm not repeating myself
I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
In an alleged violation of the Arizona "Gift Clause," Pima County built the facility for World View, at the time without FAA clearance to fly. When the company damaged windows and buildings in the area with a balloon explosion, the county and the company buried the news and hid the details from taxpayers. This thing is a well-documented $15 million fraud.
Do some research first, Slashdot. This story is bogus. (Find out for yourself: Search for "Goldwater Institute World View.")