DRAFT NOTES>>> Feasibility of Communities in the Stratosphere

 
High o'er the clouds, and empty realms of wind,
The God a clearer space for Heav'n design'd;
Where fields of light, and liquid aether flow;
Purg'd from the pondrous dregs of Earth below.

-Ovid
Using known technology we can build great airships that reside indefinitely in the middle stratosphere. Such awesome beasts may even make economic sense.

Advantages- above bad weather, reliable solar energy, cheaper than space for similar applications, long term station keeping, optimal earth watching, regional communication server, global navigation, tourism potential, cold low-pressure environment helps enable some things such as superconducting power systems, possible eco-repair role.

Disadvantages- high capital cost, engineering risk, unproven business model, cold low-pressure environment, low payload, hi UV, X-ray, and cosmic ray radiation, human isolation, vulnerability to wind shear at low altitudes.

Potential Enabling Technologies- Thin Film Solar Power, Advanced Composite Materials, Aerogels, Superconducting Electronics (cryogenics favored in stratospheric cold), Low Earth Orbit Communication Satellite Grids, Autonomous Flight & Navigation, Air Breathing Ion Engines, Hot helium/helium slush lift control, Superpressure Envelopes, Beamed Power, Hydrogen Based Fuel Cells.

Air Breathing Ion Engines may actually help replenish the ozone layer, maybe even earning "eco-tax" credits. There is still uncertainty whether these engines would free undesired chlorine and other catalysts at a greater rate than the desired O3 creation. If so, large ultralight propellers spun by electric motors would serve.
Aerogels may revolutionize hot gas LTAs, or at least keep humans warm. They offer the potential of retaining heat (lift) with very low losses or weight penalty. There is a potential concern about inhaling certain fiber formulations and tradeoffs between inertness and biodegradability. The coolest aerogel fiber would decompose nontoxicly in contact with biological chemistry, but remain inert in use. A stratospheric blimp might be able to use biomaterials for areogels since bacterial decomposition is precluded at cold enough temperatures.

The US strategic helium reserve has been decommissioned and mostly just sits in the ground near Amarillo, Texas. Helium prices are at historic lows. If gas loss is held down, why not store the stuff in the air?
 

Imagine life in the sky. Both heaven and earth would be more splendid, a mythic Olympus. The ship herself would be a great cathedral pierced with lacy light. A semi-permanent community of several dozen citizens could be maintained using aeroponics, waste recycling, and other space habitat techniques.
The image suggests a modern ballonet architecture within some hypothetical giant airship. Photo by Tom Lupton, of the interior of the huge Energizer Bunny (TM) hot air balloon.
Some broad design notions can be defined- For greatest lifting volume vs. drag, the shape must be a classic optimized "cigar". Size is huge but limited (maybe 700 meters long) due to constraints on materials, cost, and assembly. Lift at sea level would be roughly an order of magnitude more than the great Zeppelins. Much of this lift is "used up" to float at a high altitude, probably just above commercial jetlanes (15,000 M) and well below the highest altitudes reached by research balloons. The airship would be a hybrid (semi-rigid blimp) in structure. There would be hardpoints with radiating stringers for mounting engines, control surfaces and other loads. The bow section would be stiffened to resist deformation at speed since the overall blimp is only pressurized at, say, 1/2 psi.. The outer envelope would be partitioned into cells holding neutral pressure ballonets of lifting gas. Construction may require floating partial sections of the airship up for final assembly at altitude.

With suitable modifications, an existing airship could trial at high altitudes, mostly by trading away payload. Propulsion and human factors are big considerations, notably conversion to solar electric power and fitting out a pressurized cabin. Compared with the full version, such a craft would have a tiny crew and modest endurance. Other concepts could be trialed using microairships
Use of heated or cooled gas (aerogel insulated) and condensed (melted rime) water ballast to regulate altitude. Helium, in normal practice, would never be vented.

The alternation of day and night imposes a natural cycle of heating, rising, and/or charging electricity, then cooling, descending, and/or discharging electricity (Rendezvous with shuttle craft would best occur at the lower altitudes). Shuttling is a big unsolved problem, with the airship profoundly isolated, in a physical sense, from the rest of the world (But not anywhere as bad as space!). Such elite semi-isolate communities can be tense and obsessive, yet culturally excellent.

Shuttle Design- Shape would be a standing "cigar" since travel is largely up and down. Helium and payload or water/trash ballast and payload are transferred leaving shuttle to (slowly) free fall (sideways?) to a low buoyant altitude.

Hopi Prophecy- The Third Shaking of the Earth- When you see people living in the sky on a permanent basis, you will know the Great Spirit is about to grab the earth, this time not with one hand, but with both hands.
This beautiful rendering shows a concept for a flying city for 5000, a mile and a half long. This craft is many times larger than that required for small stratosheric communities. Point your search engine to Aerotecture aerotecture concept

background image of Global Stratospheric Wind Pattern from- http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~creech/project/winsum.html

 
India's Tradition of Flying MachinesbulletDemonology of LiftbulletFAA Suppliment to the Poem "High Flight"bulletBipedal Ornithopter UAVbulletMicroAviationbulletHigh Performance Robot Airship

Thanks for flying PolyCosmos

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