From: The Butterfly (salsbury_at_bootstrap.sculptors.com)
Date: 04/08/98
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 19:34:56 -0700 Message-Id: <199804090234.TAA27850@bootstrap.sculptors.com> From: The Butterfly <salsbury_at_bootstrap.sculptors.com> Subject: Been kinda quiet, lately...
Just checking in to see what people are up to... I'm still in the process
of moving, so I've been neglecting mail for a bit, but I did notice that
there hadn't been any posts here, lately.
Question for the list:
Are there any practical limits to how much an airship can lift?
I noticed in a recent ballooning attempt, that their 195' diameter
helium gas bag was going to lift a 13.5 ton (27,000 lb) gondola.
I'd been thinking that an autonomous house (like the one outlined
in my paper at: http://www.sculptors.com/~salsbury/Articles/house.paper )
would be incredibly cool to have dangling from a balloon/airship, and spend
perhaps 6 months living at an altitude of 5-6 miles up. (Pressurized cabin,
of course.)
I think it would be possible to make a house considerably lighter
than 13.5 tons, and thus need an even smaller bag for it. But what
materials can last for a long/indefinite time in that ultraviolet light?
And be strong enough not to suffer the mishaps that many balloon attempts
seem to have? Would silk do the trick? Mylar? Reinforced nylon tent fabric?
(ripstop nylon or something similar?)
Just a few thoughts...
Pat
___________________Think For Yourself____________________
Patrick G. Salsbury - http://www.sculptors.com/~salsbury/
Check out the Reality Sculptors Project: http://www.sculptors.com/
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