High altitude airships is a concept that is only just being explored, The military is currently investing in platforms that can be taken up to 60,000ft-140,000ft. But what if we could take that even higher, say all the way to space? Sounds impossible, but one small company is looking to change our very idea of what we think is possible.
"Aerospace engineer John Powell has studied this idea since 1979, and in 2008 published floating to space , describing the paradigm in detail. In an interview with Sander Olson, Mr. Powell discusses how his company, JP Aerospace , is actively developing the technologies and capabilities to bring this concept to fruition." (Source)
The idea is to have 2 airships that run out of a station docked at 140,000ft. This station in itself would be an airship, but its only job is to remain at 140,000ft and act as a servicing station between the airships that travel to ground and the airships that travel to space.
The airships that travel to ground would be built of stronger components then the ones that travel to space. Because the airships that travel to space would be so lightweight that they would be destroyed by the winds at normal altitudes. However at post 140,000ft there is no wind to worry about.
It's an interesting concept. They hope that in 20 years they will be able to get cargo into low earth orbit for as little as a dollar a pound. Their airships don't look all that flashy, but who knows, maybe one of these airships will take us to mars in the next 30 years.
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