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

[Mike Lorrey]

Vacuum balloons, while a nice SF fantasy, are not physically practical
compared to the next best things, like hydrogen and helium. These
gasses are so light that the envelope mass needed to reinforce a vessel
to hold a vacuum (not really holding it, but holding matter out of it,
eh?) would be greater than that saved by not using one of these gasses.

--- Adrian Tymes <wingcat at pacbell.net> wrote:
> --- 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).
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=====
Mike Lorrey
Chairman, Free Town Land Development
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                         -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


	
		
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