[extropy-chat] balloon stations at the edge of space

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Reason <reason at longevitymeme.org> wrote:
> I imagine that
> materials science will stretch to vacuum balloons
> sometime in the coming
> decades

Vacuum balloons happen to be a dream of mine I reality
checked some time ago.  In theory, if one could get
materials strong and light enough, one could make an
expandable brick full of near-pure vacuum.  Imagine a
flexible covering, joined to an internal,
size-adjustable support mechanism (say, telescoping
support structs).  Shrink the supports (telescope the
struts in), and pressure forces the covering inwards,
resulting in less displacement and thus less lift.
Reverse the process for more displacement and more
lift (up to whatever the supports & covering can
stretch to).

It'd be difficult to do this even with today's most
advanced materials, mainly due to the weight of the
motors to adjust the support mechanism.  If one could
afford to only adjust during the day, power could come
entirely from lots of low-efficiency flexible solar
cells: surface area is practically unlimited for that
specific application, though weight is a concern.

Vacuum, of course, doesn't leak unless the container
is breached, and it'd be a simple matter to add a
small vacuum pump in case of small leaks (possibly,
this would even be what - slowly - gives the balloon
its initial vacuum, and just leave it in there in
case of future problems).