Topic: DIY Space Program Breaks Records with Airship Flight

[rickl]

http://www.space.com/13433-balloon-airship-altitude-record.html

Crewed stations floating high above the Earth with huge balloons could someday act as waypoints for human astronauts headed into space. That's the vision of a DIY space program that has smashed world altitude records by sending a drone airship flying up 18 miles into the sky.

The Tandem airship soared almost four miles higher than any past airships during its record-breaking flight on the morning of Oct. 22. Its flight to 95,085 feet above Nevada's Black Rock desert marks a first step toward plans for an "Airship to Orbit" program that would fly humans into space using existing technology.

"The big aerospace firms have been trying to do this for decades, spending hundreds of millions of dollars," said John Powell, president of JP Aerospace. "We've spent about $30,000 and the past five years developing Tandem."

[Libertas]

So, how long could a mile or two wide contraption stay up there and is it protected against impact threats?  Sounds like an interesting idea but they got more testing to do for sure.  But I like how they can do something so simple and inexpensive.  Get government involved and costs will skyrocket and missions will bloat!

[IronDioPriest]

Man, $30 grand? Sounds almost incomprehensibly low compared to the numbers we're accustomed to seeing from government.

[AlanS]

...... and is it protected against impact threats? 

Interesting and important question with all the space junk floating around.

[LadyVirginia]

So, how long could a mile or two wide contraption stay up there and is it protected against impact threats?  Sounds like an interesting idea but they got more testing to do for sure.  But I like how they can do something so simple and inexpensive.  Get government involved and costs will skyrocket and missions will bloat!

Kind of like education in this country.

All you really need is a willing student and a book.

If those guys had a million bucks I'm sure their project would've cost a million bucks.

[charlesoakwood]

They're staying up nights trying to figure
out how to regulate this thing.  As soon
as there is a flaming accident they will
swoop in as vultures and regulate it to
death.

[Libertas]

They're staying up nights trying to figure
out how to regulate this thing.  As soon
as there is a flaming accident they will
swoop in as vultures and regulate it to
death.

Because as RR warned..."if it moves..."