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After over 20 years of tests and development, NASA's Balloon Program team is on the cusp of expanding the envelope in high-altitude, heavylift ballooning with its super pressure balloon (SPB) technology. SMD technology investments that enabled development of SPB, the first totally new balloon design in more than 60 years, include improved film and evolution in the balloon design and fabrication. The pumpkin-shaped, football stadium-size balloon is made from 22-acres of polyethylene film—a material that is similar to a sandwich bag, but is stronger and more durable. The SPB is capable of ascending to a nearly constant float altitude of about 35 km for flights lasting up to 100 days, given the right stratospheric conditions. Flying at mid-latitudes, the balloon must be able to endure the pressure changes that result from the heating and cooling of the day-night cycle. NASA expects the SPB to be capable of circumnavigating the globe once every one to three weeks, depending on wind speeds in the stratosphere.
On March 26, 2015, NASA launched the second SPB flight from Wanaka, New Zealand. The balloon flew 32 days, five hours, and 51 minutes, on a voyage nearly around the world in what was the most rigorous test of the SPB technology to date. The 2015 mission accomplished what no other heavy-lift balloon had done by maintaining a nearly constant float altitude in stratospheric conditions. NASA terminated the balloon's flight over a remote area of the Australian Outback after suspecting a leak in the balloon. Back on the ground, the team recovered the balloon and shipped it back to the United States for analysis. The ensuing investigation concluded that the most likely cause of the suspected leak was a gradual slipping of the balloon material at the metal fittings on the base and top of the balloon structure.
Capable of carrying a 450kg payload. There's a bug-out option for you. When SHTF take one of these babies up to your roof and you'll be good to go for a destination on pretty much any continent you want.
Additional coverage at NASA, Newshub, and the NZ Herald
[Ed Note: The article above was published on March 24, 2017, but describes events that happened in 2015. There is a follow-on article that describes the SPB campaign for 2016, and the above additional coverage articles describe the campaign for 2017. - cmn32480]
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday March 27 2017, @06:46AM (3 children)
"good to go for a destination on pretty much any continent you want." Subject to winds, storms, food, frostbite, and a an almost complete absence of any ability to steer*
*unless you have access to detailed wind maps.
Good for atmospheric science, though.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @07:09AM
Internet! From the sky!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday March 27 2017, @05:14PM
"So here's the Greatest plan: we inflate our Best spy balloons, folks. Then we launch them, they drift over Bad Iran, Evil China, and Failing Kim, and if they complain we tell them we obviously can't steer. Losers!"
"But, sir, you're cutting the funding for atmospheric sciences. How will we plan the balloon launch so it goes over those guys instead of drifting North to Russia?"
"Vladimir wouldn't be happy... Cancel that. I'll just get on twitter and say they are so bad we have to nuke them. Trust me folks, if worked for Cheney."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 28 2017, @12:39AM
They could make good bladders for inside a rigid/semi-rigid airship.
With solar and either battery storage or electric/catalyzed hydrogen gas production you could build a vehicle that could perform for years, balloons and avoidance of extreme weather willing.