[Stoat]

A stewardess for the Manned Cloud?  :-)

More for Thunderbirds fans  :-)

BBC - Cult - Gerry Anderson - Thunderbirds

[PAR35]

we are looking into fuelling it with some form of helium gas."

These guys know so little about the subject that they can't tell the difference between the lifting gas and the fuel.

I smell a scam.

[wolfpat]

Just out of curiosity, how can helium be used as a fuel?

[Abathar]

"• It will be able to travel for 3,100 miles --or across the U.S. - before needing to be refuelled by a form of helium gas."

Okay, now Chemistry class was a long time ago, but don't they mean burning hydrogen? How are they going to burn helium - The Mr Fusion 2000?

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Cool!

[Joe 6-pack]

[Malone LaVeigh]

Coincidence?

[aruanan]

"We don't want to be carrying around gallons and gallons of heavy petrol or diesel and we are looking into fuelling it with some form of helium gas."

Sure! Everybody knows "some forms" of helium burn like hell!

[RedCell]

Thunderbird 2 was always my fav.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Surprisingly, airships are now more popular today than even back in their heyday. They are an excellent way to carry heavy cargo long distances both over land and sea. But, with modern technology, they are becoming far more practical.

1) Fire fighting. Unlike planes and helicopters, airships can carry much more water to a wildfire. Plus, they can not only drop it all at once, but they can “rain” for an extended time on a fire and the surrounding area, which strongly inhibits such fires. It can also land directly on a body of water to quickly recharge its tanks.

2) Communications. High altitude airships can act much like communications satellites, and transfer wide bandwidths of information. Even a single airship high over Kansas could handle much of the satellite traffic of the United States.

3) Combat surveillance. Airships could make high detail video record all outdoor movement in a combat area. Thus, any enemy attack could be traced back to its source, and where it retired to after the attack. Not just people, but vehicles could be monitored. It would be far higher than all but advance surface to air weapons.

4) Anti ballistic and cruise missile defenses. At high altitude, able to see both high flying and below the radar attacks from far away.

[Ezekiel]

The idea at the heart of this project is that passengers can see fantastic places like Thailand and theCaribbean without the need to build ugly hotels everywhere.

Gotta keep 'em in the air lest they build ugly hotels everywhere. Makes sense.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Grizzled Bear]

With its fins and whale-like shape, it resembles Thunderbird 2.

What's the word!

[okie01]

Mr Massaud said: "The Manned Cloud permits you to explore the world without leaving a trace. Passengers can experience spectacular and exotic places without being intrusive or exploitative."

The cost of a night on the airship is yet to be decided, but it is likely to be out of the reach of most pockets.

However, it could provide the perfect hideaway for camera-shy celebrities.

One thing the concept and the article underscore is how enviromentalism is generally driven by ultra-rich folks.

Most folks don't consider hotels "ugly". Most folks don't ascribe any significance to leaving a "trace" of their passage.

Only the ultra-rich can afford to have such pretensions.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The most famous Airship disaster, the Hindenberg, was caused by using hydrogen as the lifting gas. But a number of American helium filled airships were wrecked, mostly because of winds and storms. Has that problem been fixed?

[central_va]

Make a nice ASW platform.

[FreeInWV]

It would look really nice with a big Ron Paul sign on it!

[Godzilla]

A stewardess for the Manned Cloud? :-)

She looks a little wooden to me.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

If this is legit, I love it. I’ve always been a fan of LTA vehicles and would love to see zeppelins and dirigibles plying the skies once again.

There’s just something majestic about a craft that is larger than most aircraft hangars moving almost silently overhead.

[pointsal]

What about the removal of waste from the ship during flight?

[Blood of Tyrants]

we are looking into fuelling it with some form of helium gas.

Helium? In case this Einstein hasn't checked, helium is NOT a fuel. It is inert and absolutely refuses to react with anything.