Lots of funny stuff about shooting it down misses the interesting question of how to get it up. At 65,000 the air is so thin that any lighter-than-air object has to be very extremely light. After the weight of the envelope and the helium (yes, helium weighs, too) there isn't much capacity left for the radar gear, solar cells and propulsion system. The wind up there keeps blowing the thing away, so it has to keep flying, and storing enough power to keep going at night is a huge challenge. DARPA and the Air Force have been looking for ideas on this, but I haven't seen any published solutions.
I tried to be helpful on counter-terrorism a couple of times. Sent a letter to Washington, full return address, phone, etc. Made another suggestion to the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge Authority and got a visit from a special agent of the FBI. Sent him some more stuff by e-mail at his request. All since 9/11. FBI claims to have no record of any of it.
I used to fly those glass birds, and I have also watched the spoilers open up on a Boeing to reveal a complete jungle of hydraulic lines and valves. Maybe no problem flexing the wing itself, but what about all that junk inside it?
I once had some hot info for the FBI on my computer. Spoke to an agent and he asked me to send it his e-mail address at aol.com. Hope that transmission was secure.
Stirling engines make sense in some limited applications where their ability to utilize any source of heat can be an advantage. The most promising use (but a market of onesies, twosies) is power for spacecraft heading for outer space. Currently, a chunk of plutonium provides heat to thermoelectric generators with maybe 8% efficiency. A very durable Stirling could do the job with more than 20% efficiency. The regenerator is, of course, a key component. NASA Glenn Research Center has been funding regenerator research and recent tests show that an etched stainless steel foil regenerator produced an outstanding figure of merit based on heat transfer and pressure drop. Flexure-mounted pistons with non-contact clearance seals offer extremely long life for the mechanism. Stirlings have a place in the world, albeit a small one.
Oil reserves estimates:
Estimates of the world's oil reserves are calculated by adding up the reported reserves of the oil producing countries. Quotas of OPEC members are set in proportion to their reported reserves, but they are not forthcoming about how those reserves are calculated. Since OPEC members want the largest quotas they can get, there is an incentive to inflate reserves. There could be a lot less oil out there than we think.
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Lots of funny stuff about shooting it down misses the interesting question of how to get it up. At 65,000 the air is so thin that any lighter-than-air object has to be very extremely light. After the weight of the envelope and the helium (yes, helium weighs, too) there isn't much capacity left for the radar gear, solar cells and propulsion system. The wind up there keeps blowing the thing away, so it has to keep flying, and storing enough power to keep going at night is a huge challenge. DARPA and the Air Force have been looking for ideas on this, but I haven't seen any published solutions.
I tried to be helpful on counter-terrorism a couple of times. Sent a letter to Washington, full return address, phone, etc. Made another suggestion to the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge Authority and got a visit from a special agent of the FBI. Sent him some more stuff by e-mail at his request. All since 9/11. FBI claims to have no record of any of it.
I used to fly those glass birds, and I have also watched the spoilers open up on a Boeing to reveal a complete jungle of hydraulic lines and valves. Maybe no problem flexing the wing itself, but what about all that junk inside it?
I once had some hot info for the FBI on my computer. Spoke to an agent and he asked me to send it his e-mail address at aol.com. Hope that transmission was secure.
Stirling engines make sense in some limited applications where their ability to utilize any source of heat can be an advantage. The most promising use (but a market of onesies, twosies) is power for spacecraft heading for outer space. Currently, a chunk of plutonium provides heat to thermoelectric generators with maybe 8% efficiency. A very durable Stirling could do the job with more than 20% efficiency. The regenerator is, of course, a key component. NASA Glenn Research Center has been funding regenerator research and recent tests show that an etched stainless steel foil regenerator produced an outstanding figure of merit based on heat transfer and pressure drop. Flexure-mounted pistons with non-contact clearance seals offer extremely long life for the mechanism. Stirlings have a place in the world, albeit a small one.
Oil reserves estimates: Estimates of the world's oil reserves are calculated by adding up the reported reserves of the oil producing countries. Quotas of OPEC members are set in proportion to their reported reserves, but they are not forthcoming about how those reserves are calculated. Since OPEC members want the largest quotas they can get, there is an incentive to inflate reserves. There could be a lot less oil out there than we think.