nonpolluting highway to space -- current huge high altitude airship projects based on solar cells may fit with an unshielded, light-weight versions of simple, safe Hyperion uranium hydride 5,000 KW fission reactor: Otis Peterson: Rich Murray 2007.12.02 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rmforall/message/74
Since this post, a successful solar power robot airship has yet to maintain its station at 12 miles altitude, while many more groups are involved globally. Once that is achieved, it is a straightforward jump to a huge airship station at 24 miles, which can be accessed daily by a airship elevators on tethered cables, also supported by balloons. Hello Otis Peterson, I found and studied your patent an hour after my question to you, on 2007.11.24. http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fneta\ html%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=2&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=%22Peterson%2C+Otis\ %22&OS=%22Peterson,+Otis%22&RS=%22Peterson,+Otis%22 I had studied high altitude airships in 2005, so tonight I pulled together a review of recent developments, from a highly [ eeee, a pun ] visionary group to a DOD funded 70,000 foot altitude one-month test flight due 2009 by Lockheed Martin. The length scale is from 0.1 mile to 2.0 miles for designs up to altitude 140,000 feet, 26.5 miles. Thin solar cells already exist to provide power for large fan propellers. Fission reactors can be rendered safe by increasing the distance to vital structures and people, for instance, by being at the end of very long carbon nanotube cables, already in mass production in Texas, which can also carry electric power. The waste heat after electric power production can be used to drive lightweight motors for propulsion, and heating the He or H2 lift gas to increase lift. The carbon nanotube cables could be hollow thin-wall heat pipes, with standard multiple thin-layer reflecting superinsulation, aided by the low ambient air density. How light could your reactor be made, using C and Be? 5 MW = 5,000 KW thermal output, and at, say, 40 % conversion efficiency to electricity, would supply about 700 times the 3 KW continuous electric power for the Lockheed Martin HAA, due to fly for a month in 2009: www.defenseindustrydaily.com/lockheed-wins-1492m-contract-for-high-altitude-airs\ hip-updated-01607/ Lockheed Martin High Altitude Airship (HAA) $ 149.2 million DOD contract "Under this latest demonstration contract, Lockheed Martin will develop an unmanned and untethered prototype airship with the requirement of remaining on station for one continuous month at a nominal cruise altitude. Nav Log notes that "according to the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command, HAA is to have an endurance of one month at 65,000 feet, carry a payload of at least 500 pounds, provide at least 3 Kw of continuous power, have a cruise speed of 25 knots, and station-keeping accuracy of less than 2 kilometers 50% of the time and less than 150 kilometers 95% of the time." This actually refers to the prototype vehicle, as opposed to the operational HAA which will have a payload of 4,000 pounds (about 1,800 kg). Dave Kier, Lockheed Martin's vice president and managing director for missile defense, told C4SI Journal that an operational version of the airship would have a volume of about 5.3 million cubic feet, about 25 times the volume of the Goodyear blimps." If the huge orbital craft, envisioned by JP Aerospace, were to incorporate square mile size mirrors, then each could collect and focus about 3,540,000 KW light energy at 1.366 KW/m**2 mirror surface, 708 times more than the 5 MW = 5,000 KW of one reactor. The engineering estimate would be how many fusion reactors would supply a mix of usuable power, electric and thermal, at an acceptable weight, compared to the power and weight of a square mile of solar reflectors, concentrating light as much as a 1,000 fold intensity on high performance 40% efficient solar cells and/or thermoelectric power generators. A nuclear reactor based airship design might be much smaller in size, if the reactors can reach high levels of useful power per weight. It seems possible that Hyperion fission reactor based designs might surpass solar designs, especially at Mars, where the available solar power is about a quarter of that at Earth. In that case, safe space travel for large groups in luxurious, capacious ships would, using the plentiful supply of He or H2 in the envelope as reaction mass, reach pass Mars to orbit around H rich planets and moons, far from the Sun, where more H would be available in limitless supply -- all this, without any pollution of Earth's biosphere. Used reactors could be processed safely in automated, human-free facilities in Sol space. This could evolve with exponential speed, as there are huge profits, combined with remarkably low cost, low risk engineering, testing, construction, and operation, at every stage, from carrying a few tourists up to a floating resort for a week at 13 and then 26 miles, then larger airliner size groups, then the same for orbital tours, leading to orbital communities, and thence, space colonies of unlimited size that would be permanent luxury ecologies anywhere in Sol space. This could well be an open ended positive enterprise that would immediately help unify the world with a process of experientially expanding horizons, as affordable to ordinary citizens as jet planes have been for decades, or as were ocean travel and railroads after 1860. There are awesome easily transported resources in Sol space as ice, carbon, mineral, and metal rich asteroids of all sizes, as well as planetary liquids ranging from water to hydrocarbons to ammonia to sulfur. Capable networks have an unusual opportunity to collaborate to quickly develop and publicize these benign possibilities. In mutual service, Rich Murray rmforall@... Room For All 1943 Otowi Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 505-501-2298 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rmforall/messages /////////////////////////////////////////////// http://www.jpaerospace.com/ JP Aerospace (JPA) was founded by John Marchel Powell. Please feel free to e-mail him for further information. 2530 Merchantile Drive, Suite I, Rancho Cordova, CA 95742. jpowell@... JP Aerospace is a volunteer-based organization achieving cheap access to space by just doing it. We are an independent space program. Here you'll find photos and videos from over ninty missions and information on our Airship to Orbit program. http://www.jpaerospace.com/atohandout.pdf Airship To Orbit Photo from a JP Aerospace vehicle taken 4/3/2004. America’s OTHER Space Program 2530 Mercantile Dr. Suite I Rancho Cordova, CA 95742 916-858-0185 www.jpaerospace.com ATO Airship To Orbit Cheap, Bulk, Safe Access to Space. It’s time to send out the fleet. The atmosphere as a ladder to space. Balloons have carried people and machines to the edge of space for over seventy years. JP Aerospace is developing the technology to fly a balloon -- or more accurately, their relative, the airship -- directly to orbit. Flying an airship directly from the ground to orbit is not practical. An airship large enough to reach orbit would not survive the winds near the surface of the Earth. Conversely, an airship that could fly from the ground to upper atmosphere would not be light enough to reach space. The resulting configuration is a three-part architecture for using lighter-than-air vehicles to reach space. The first part is an atmospheric airship. It will travel from the surface of the Earth to 140,000 feet. The vehicle is operated by a crew of three and can be configured for cargo or passengers. This airship is a hybrid vehicle using a combination of buoyancy and aerodynamic lift to fly. It is driven by propellers designed to operate in near vacuum. The second part of the architecture is a suborbital space station. This is a permanent, crewed facility parked at 140,000 feet, 26.5 miles. These facilities, called Dark Sky Stations (DSS), act as the way stations to space. The DSS is the destination of the atmospheric airship and the departure port for the orbital airship. Initially, the DSS will be the construction facility for the large orbital vehicle. The third part of the architecture is an airship/dynamic vehicle that flies directly to orbit. In order to utilize the few molecules of gas at extreme altitudes, this craft is big. The initial test vehicle is 6,000 feet (over a mile) long. The airship uses buoyancy to climb to 200,000 feet. >From there it uses electric propulsion to slowly accelerate. As it accelerate it dynamically climbs. Over several days it reaches orbital velocity. Low cost bulk access to space Scaleable Technology. True reusability, multiple orbital flights before servicing. Large structures can be placed already assembled in orbit. Brings safety and reliability to reaching space. Both the climb to orbit and reentry are slow controlled processes. No high reentry heating, no big fuel tanks to explode. Opens up the solar system. Once in orbit, the airship is a spacecraft. With its solar/electric propulsion, it can now proceed to any destination in the solar system. It is happening now. This is not fanciful speculation. The project is now over two decades in development with over eighty real hardware test flights and countless development tests. It is being built completely with existing technology. It’s being built now. The high altitude airship has been built and is awaiting test flights. Several Dark Sky Station platforms have been built and flown. Every piece of equipment for this system has been carried to 100,000 feet and tested in the environment. The first crewed DSS is scheduled to fly in eighteen months. The ion engine 120,000 foot flight test for the orbital airship will be flown in the next five months. It’s being paid for now. This new way to space has not and will not require a massive pile of capital to accomplish. Each component has its own business application and funding source. It is a pay-as-you-go system. For example, funding the atmospheric airship was provided by the Department of Defense for use as a reconnaissance vehicle. The DSS has multiple customers in the telecommunications community. When? We are seven years from completion. Earth to the top of the atmosphere. High Altitude airships fly from the ground to the station at 140,000 feet. Transfer point at the edge of space. A two mile wide station parked at 140,000 feet is the new waystation to space. The station acts not only as a port for the orbital airship but also as a research center, construction site and tourist destination. >From the edge of space to orbit. This 6,000 foot long vehicle never touches the ground. This airship flies from the upper atmospheric station to orbit. It uses electric propulsion to slowly over several days reach orbit. Three Part Architecture to Orbit. Dark Sky Station The Ascender Airship The Ascender climbs vertically during most of its flight. The Ascender docked with the Dark Sky Station at 140,000 feet. The large orbital airship also docked with the Dark Sky Station. The DSS from above. Five day climb to orbit. Bulk cargo and passengers to orbit. The Reality 90 foot development Ascender airship. High altitude propeller test flight. 175 foot long Ascender float test. Small Dark Sky Station Flight Tests. The edge of space is our backyard for testing and development. http://www.gizmag.com/tandem-high-flying-airships/8356/ November 15, 2007 JP Aerospace has developed a class of twin balloon, high altitude, low cost utility airships that will be the highest flying airships ever built. Designed for use in telecommunications, reconnaissance and even as rocket or UAV launch platforms, the Tandems fill the gap between free balloons and complex high altitude airships and are capable of flying to heights of 140,000ft. Whilst blimps like the Goodyear have a standard shaped shell, crafts in the Tandem class consist of two balloons separated by a keel. Each balloon is mounted on a ring that can rock forward and back, but not side to side. The careful management of the low-pressure zone that exists under each balloon maintains stability of the balloons during climb. Once a height of 100,000ft is reached two propellers designed for flight drive the airships kick-in, achieving up to six knots forward speed in flights of up to twelve hours duration. JP Aerospace is an independent space program staffed by volunteers dedicated to bringing space travel to everyone. It developed the Tandem as a tool to construct the Dark Sky Station, a high altitude port and construction facility. It will also be used as a "mothership" for small experimental airships, (Mach Gliders and X-Airships). There are three vehicles in the Tandem class, all scalable and all-weather deployable. The 14ft long Micro-Tandem flew on October 6, 2007 as a test platform for electronics and sensors. The Standard Tandem is 30ft long (without balloons, 120ft long with) and is undergoing an electronics upgrade. The Tandem Heavy Lift is 200ft long and is lifted by roller mounted polyethylene balloons. Loads of up to five tons can be carried to 140,000ft [ 26.5 miles ] and both crewed and autonomous versions are planned for purposes ranging from telecommunications and reconnaissance to construction of high altitude infrastructure and even a rocket or UAV launch platforms. Each of the vehicles is short duration, low speed and low cost compared to similar craft in the field. John Powell, President of JP Aerospace, said that “compared to the costs of other high altitude airships, Tandems are almost disposable”. http://www.jpaerospace.com/dssoverview.html [JPA LOGO] DSS Dark Sky Station The Dark Sky Station is our platform at the edge of space. In addition to being a key element in the Airship To Orbit project, Dark Sky Stations can be used as a rocket launch platform, a telecommunications hub and a reseach station. Large stations will also serve as a tourist destination. DSSArmCam.jpg (19324 bytes) DSS 1 Prototype Flight DSS Arm Camera, (vehicle at 45,000 feet). DSS 2 Liftoff DSS 2 In Flight Block 2 DSS, The Stratostation This page was last edited on November 11, 2005 Email comments to jpowell@... Copyright© 2005 JP Aerospace. All Rights Reserved. Looking for a bigger payload capacity -- check out the monstrous Aeroscraft ML866, a superyacht for the sky. http://www.gizmag.com/go/8132/ Aeroscraft ML866: superyacht for the sky officially launched Image Gallery (16 images) October 8, 2007 It’s as big as a superyacht, and not quite as fast as a supercar but it does have a range of over 3000 miles and can do it over land, sea or snow, lingering anywhere you like the view. A new category of aircraft that fits somewhere in between a blimp, airship or dirigible, the Aeroscraft ML866 project was recently presented at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) show in Atlanta, Georgia. The key factor of the ML866 design is that it offers superyacht size and comfort in a platform that can operate independently from airports, meaning that a new class of luxury conveyance is about to become available which appears to trump them all. Based on concepts developed for the (now apparently shelved) US Army Heavy Lift “Project Walrus”, the Aeroscraft ML866 has some remarkable capabilities not available in other aircraft -- it is incredibly spacious offering a cabin area of 5,382 square ft (500 square metres), boasts low operating costs, has all-weather capabilities, vertical takeoff and landing and extended range along with its ability to hover for long periods, meaning it can be utilized for a range of different applications from a private air yacht to a business office (even offering conferencing facilities catering for 100 people) in the sky or for commuting, freight solutions and sightseeing. The Aeroscraft ML866 is a buoyancy assisted air vehicle with a rigid structure and gas cells. It uses Aeros’ proprietary Full Authority Direct Organic Lift Control (FADOLC) -- a dynamic buoyancy management system that provides the low speed control capability. While 70% of the aerodynamic lift comes from helium, the remaining 30% is derived from its innovative “wing” shape. As well as being able to hover the aircraft will be capable of speeds up to 138 mph (0-222 kmh) and will operate at altitudes of up to 12,000 ft (3,657 m), and the massive 210 ft (64 m) long by 118 ft (36 m) wide by 56 ft (17 m) high structure will deliver a roomy 5000+ square feet of cabin space. Aeros displayed a 1/48th scale model at this year’s NBAA show and hopes to begin airframe static testing of the rigid composite structure within months, with flight testing at the San Bernadino International Airport to follow as early as 2010. An additional series of commercially focussed Aeroscraft is also on the drawing board and will be scaled to payloads of up to 60 tons. No exact pricing details are available as yet but reports suggest the tag will be under $40 million. Tags: Aeroplanes, Airship, Luxury, Travel and Tourism, VTOL High-altitude airship >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency has contracted Lockheed Martin to construct a high-altitude airship (HAA) to enhance its Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). An unmanned lighter-than-air vehicle, the HAA, is designed to operate above the jet stream in a quasi-geostationary position to deliver persistent station keeping as a surveillance platform, telecommunications relay, or a weather observer. They propose to launch their HAA in 2008. The airship would be in the air for up to one month at a time and can survey a 600 mile diameter of land. It will use solar cells to provide its power and will be unmanned during its flight. It will have the capability to survey a 600 mile diameter of land whether that be for surveillance, weather observations etc. It is to be composed of high strength fabrics to minimize weight as well as lightweight propulsion technologies. It will operate at a height of above 60,000 feet and will have a payload for military use. It will be around 500 feet long and 150 feet in diameter. HAA page at Lockheed Martin www.lockheedmartin.com/products/HighAltitudeAirship/index.html High Altitude Airship HAA The Lockheed Martin High Altitude Airship (HAA), an unmanned lighter-than-air vehicle, will operate above the jet stream in a quasi-geostationary position to deliver persistent station keeping as a surveillance platform, telecommunications relay, or a weather observer. High Altitude Airship This updated concept of a proven technology takes lighter-than-air vehicles into a realm that gives users capabilities on par with satellites at a fraction of the cost. In position, an airship would survey a 600-mile diameter area and millions of cubic miles of airspace. Many of the vital technologies have matured to a point that they are ready for system integration. High-strength fabrics to minimize hull weight, thin-film solar arrays for the regenerative power supply, and lightweight propulsion units are key technologies ready to make a high-flying airship a reality. The combination of photovoltaic and advanced energy storage systems delivers the necessary power to perform the airship functions. Propulsion units will maintain the airship's geostationary position above the jet stream, propel it aloft and guide its takeoff and landing during ascent and descent. Lighter-than-air vehicles, operating at altitudes above controlled airspace under the control of a manned ground station, give users the flexibility to change payload equipment when the airship returns to its operational base to perform different tasks. Lockheed Martin's unique experience with certificating commercial airships with the FAA gives it the understanding to address the concerns of flight through controlled airspace, especially with an unmanned airship. Lockheed Martin, Akron, received its first production contract for a lighter-than-air vehicle in 1928. Since that time, Lockheed Martin has built more than 300 airships and several thousand aerostats (unmanned ground-tethered balloons). The Lockheed Martin Airdock, which is 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide and 211 feet high, may serve as a final assembly facility. High Altitude Airship On Station Lockheed Martin is currently in the contract's third phase, prototype build and flight demonstration, awarded by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The MDA’s performance goals for the prototype HAA include sustained operations for approximately one month, above 60,000 feet, while providing power to a payload for military use. It will operate unmanned above the jet stream in a quasi-geostationary position to survey an approximately 600-mile diameter area. In this phase of the program, Lockheed Martin will build and fly a HAA prototype vehicle in order to demonstrate launch and recovery, station-keeping and flight control capabilities. Its utility as a mobile, re-taskable, high-altitude, geostationary, long-endurance platform will span from short and long range missile warning, surveillance and target acquisition to communications and weather/environmental monitoring. Additionally, the HAA prototype will demonstrate station-keeping and autonomous flight control capabilities. Lockheed Martin assembled a team of industry leaders in autonomous control systems, regenerative power systems, envelope material and systems integration to develop its HAATM solution. Product Card: High Altitude Airship Brochure (PDF, 273.1 KB) MS2 199 Borton Landing Road Moorestown, NJ 08057-0927 (856) 722-4100 CONTACT Media and Press Inquiries: (330) 796-1793 Business Development: 330-796-8825 HAA page at Global Security www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/haa.htm Intelligence References High Altitude Airship (HAA) Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Akron, a unit of Lockheed Martin, with its partners —Stratcom International and others—have developed an unmanned lighter-than-air vehicle that would operate above the jet stream and above severe weather in a geostationary position to serve as a telecommunications relay, a weather observer, or a peacekeeper from its over-the-horizon perch. According to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), 11 high-altitude airships would provide overlapping radar coverage of all maritime and southern border approaches to the continental U.S., and may be a significant asset in homeland defense efforts. The Stratospheric Platform System (SPS) dirigible operates just barely within the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere and is emerging as part of the military's 21st century transformational mindset. SPS is an unmanned, powered airship that can maintain a relatively geostationary position at 70,000 feet. Lift is provided by helium that is contained in its envelope. Differential thrust, electric-powered props control the pitch and roll and keep it in position. With the advent of thin-film photovoltaic solar cells (capable of producing voltage when exposed to radiant light), commercially available fuel cells, and lightweight/high-strength fabrics, a high-altitude airship could stay on station weeks or even months at a time by generating its own power and keeping helium loss to a minimal amount. On station, the onboard sensors’ surveillance coverage extends over the horizon and monitors a diametric surface area of 775 miles. At nearly 500 feet long and 150 feet in diameter at its widest girth, the airship’s volume exceeds 5 million cubic feet. This updated concept of a tried and proven technology takes lighter-than-air vehicles beyond the surface exclamations of: "Look, there’s the Goodyear blimp." As a matter of fact, the Akron, Ohio, Lockheed Martin business unit supports the tire company’s blimp fleet as the FAA certificated manufacturer and maintenance provider. Now, though, things have changed. Lighter-than-air vehicles operating at altitudes of 21 kilometers (70,000 feet) are nearing a reality thanks in large measure to the technical savvy of Lockheed Martin NE&SS-Akron and the convictions of Stratcom President Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson, USAF (retired), and other members of its stratospheric airship industrial team. All vital technologies have been evaluated individually during the recently concluded concept feasibility phase, which began in October 1998, and are ready for integration into a demonstration vehicle. The evolution of the design over this period has illustrated a host of design, operational, and manufacturing issues that are significantly different than the issues resulting from development of fixed-wing aircraft or even a conventional LTA vehicle. Maintaining geostationary position over long periods requires a detailed understanding of the environment at 21 km. This altitude was chosen because of its minimal wind conditions during a significant part of the year. Wind profiles tend to reduce to a minimum a short distance above the jet stream. However, long-term, reliable and continuous data on winds and turbulence at this altitude are not available for the entire earth’s surface. Therefore, variable winds and turbulence, even though the air density is only five percent of that at the surface, could still place severe demands on propulsion, control and navigation systems. Buoyant vehicles require periodic checks on the helium purity. This is done frequently with blimps. For the vehicle operating at 21 km, the design has taken into account leakage of helium as well as migration of air and water vapor into the helium enclosure. Degradation of buoyant lift will be minimized by envelope design. Since it is not practical to carry fuel aloft in a long-endurance buoyant vehicle, all power must be generated on station. This includes payload and propulsive power. A combination of photovoltaic (PV) and fuel cell systems likely will be used to provide the multiple kilowatts of power necessary for these functions. The PV and regenerative fuel cell technologies required by the vehicle are being developed based on work at NASA-Glenn in Cleveland. Lockheed Martin’s unique experience with certificating the GZ-22 airship with the FAA allows it to understand and address the concerns of flight through controlled airspace, especially with an unmanned airship. Safety of flight issues, operation of an unmanned vehicle, and operation over populated areas are all concerns that we have addressed during the design evolution. While most of the issues noted are not unique to special aircraft designers, it is the combination of these factors along with the long endurance that makes the design problem a difficult one. The vehicle might be built in the company’s Akron Airdock, which is 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide and 211 feet high. Its height is equal to a 22-story building. Lockheed Martin NE&SS-Akron received its first production contract for a lighter-than-air vehicle, the rigid USS Akron airship, in 1928 from the U.S. Navy. Since that time, the Lockheed Martin unit has built more than 300 airships and several thousand aerostats. The North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) has asked for funding to build a prototype high-altitude airship, with the idea of stationing 10 ships to cover all the continental borders of the United States. The Technical Center of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) seeks sources capable of and interested in developing a prototype unmanned, un-tethered lighter than air (LTA) vehicle, or airship, that can operate autonomously in the stratosphere for sustained long-endurance operations. The principle objectives of the HAA Program are to develop a prototype airship that can lift a payload of at least two metric short tons (1814 kilograms, or 4000 pounds) to a pressure altitude of approximately 21.33 kilometers (70,000 feet), maintain geostationary orbit at that altitude above a fixed location on the earth for at least six months, be controllable from a remote ground station, provide a payload environment suitable for electronic equipment with a maximum unobstructed viewing line-of-sight around the airship, and generate sufficient power to operate all airship subsystems and electronic payloads (with appropriate design margins and duty cycles) for continuous operations. Instrumentation should be included to characterize the flight environment, airship stability and control, internal airship thermal and atmospheric environment (humidity and gaseous composition), power generation and management, and the payload environment (thermal, air composition, electro-magnetic, and vibration). Provisions should be made to transmit the instrumentation data to the ground for airship system status and performance evaluation. To the maximum extent possible, the prototype design should utilize components, structures, and subsystems that are scaleable to an operational airship with the same operational requirements, but having a payload capability five to six times greater than that of the prototype. USASMDC believes that the airship resulting from this effort will have significant commercial applications -- in telecommunications, for example. Given this potential, USASMDC plans to enter into a cost-sharing arrangement for the performance of this effort as an "Other Transaction for Prototype" under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2371 and Section 845 of Public Law 103-160, as amended. (SMDC, however, reserves the right to elect to enter into a "traditional" contractual arrangement under the Federal Acquisition Regulation.) An Other Transaction arrangement offers maximum flexibility and encourages use of commercial business practices, including negotiation of intellectual property rights. Non-traditional defense contractors are encouraged to participate. The planned period of performance for this effort is 24 months, including design, fabrication and flight test. On 29 September 2003 Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, Akron, Ohio, was awarded agreement HQ0006-04-9-0001 for design and risk reduction phase 2 of the High Altitude Airship advanced concept technology demonstration. The objective of this Phase 2 effort is to continue design (through critical design review) and technical risk reduction efforts for a high-altitude airship system prototype that will demonstrate military utility by operating in the stratosphere as a long-endurance, quasi-geostationary platform with a contractor-supplied, government-approved payload or a government-supplied payload. The estimated total value for Phase 2 is $40,000,000 with a period of performance from October 2003 to June 2004. There is an option for a prototype, development, build and demonstration Phase 3 for an estimated total value of $50,000,000 with a period of performance from June 2004 to July 2006, and a follow-on option for an Extended User Evaluation Period Phase 4 for an estimated total value of $9,000,000 with a period of performance from August 2006 to July 2008. The Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity (HQ0006-04-9-0001). /////////////////////////////////////////////// On Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 2:45 PM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> wrote: > See: > > http://pi.library.yorku.ca/dspace/bitstream/handle/10315/2587/AA_3369_Quine_Space_Elevator_Final_2009.pdf > > Abstract > > Space tethers have been investigated widely as a means to provide easy > access to space. > However, the design and construction of such a device presents significant > unsolved > technological challenges. We propose an alternative approach to the > construction of a > space elevator that utilises a free-standing core structure to provide > access to near space > regions and to reduce the cost of space launch. The structure is comprised > of > pneumatically inflated sections that are actively controlled and stabilised > to balance > external disturbances and support the structure. Such an approach avoids > problems > associated with a space tether including material strength constraints, the > need for inspace construction, the fabrication of a cable at least 50,000 km > in length, and the ageing > and meteorite-damage effects associated with a thin tether or cable in Low > Earth Orbit. > An example structure constructed at 5 km altitude and extending to 20 km > above sea level > is described. The stability and control of the structure, methods for > construction and its > utility for space launch and other applications are discussed. >
