Posted on 10/07/2019 7:44:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
Isn’t there ENOUGH crap orbiting our planet already?
If you could get Pele's and Poli'ahu's buy-in, Mauna Kea.
It's near the equator, so you get the best boost from Earth's rotation, at 13,803 ft above sea level, it is the highest point in the state of Hawai'i, so it's above the thickest part of the atmosphere. Plenty of open water for boosters (or failed launch debris) to splash down in in all directions, ability to launch polar orbits and a nice slope for a rail based launch to boot. And it's uncontested US territory.
Make the balloon black and let the sun do it...
Does moonshine work too?
How much would it cost to build?
How much would it cost to maintain?
Who is going to pay for it?
Only if you provide enough oxygen to burn it.
S/
The balloons don’t get you to space. Lying headline.
I dunno. Is it worth at least looking into? Space flight is quite expensive. A solution involving using mountains may still be cheaper. Or it may not. It’s worth a ROM* estimate to see if it’s worth bothering with.
*Rough Order of Magnitude
Never mind. The answer is here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/01/04/why-arent-rockets-launched-from-higher-altitudes/#a902f983221f
“the expense of the balloon itself; helium is expensive”
Title says hot air balloons.
Mediots have even invaded Popullar Mechanics.
LOX....................
Technically, the first man into “space” went in a hot air balloon.
Wouldn't "corporate entities" be a more accurate description?
Are they going to develop their own private "Rods From God?"
Hold on a second there...
Hey, here's an idea. Let's develop geostationary balloons and launch them so that if the government doesn't follow our corporate desires we can anonymously...well, you get the picture.
On the other hand, would such a system be considered part and parcel to the 2nd Amendment? /thought experiment
This sure is turning into an interesting conversation.
Stop confusing the issue!
LOL! How did you like my AOC impression?
Everyone can be Captain Kirk.
It’s an interesting concept, but regular rocket launches would deliver scores of these micro-satellites in a single launch. So the niche is even smaller — launching 1 or 2 micro-satellites in a single balloon sortie.
I also wonder exactly how you recover that balloon, re-manufacture it, and ready it for another launch. I would think that high-altitude weather balloons are single-use for this very reason. How do you get the darned things back?
It's worked every time I've tried it!!!
The payload size would be limited since the rocket itself would be heavier than 55 pounds. Satellites do not go into orbit just because they reach the correct altitude. They must be going about 19,000 miles per hour at a tangent to the Earth. That requires a lot of rocket.
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