The ultimate "lifting gas" for an airship would be vacuum, which
weighs nothing. So far, it hasn't been used for the very good reason
that a "vacuum tank" is destroyed by the outside air pressure, unless
the tank is beefed up to the point that it becomes so heavy as to
eliminate the weightlessness of vacuum.
future, such a vehicle is made of a metal called "harbenite," a close
relative of unobtainium. It was stronger than steel but as light as
cork, thus allowing the construction of vacuum tanks light enough to
be useful. Ah, harbenite. Wouldn't it be nice to have harbenite?
So, shouldn't we be close to producing something in our big industrial
laboratories than can do the same job as harbinite? How close are we
to vacuum airships? Sure won't be any hydrogen risks there, and the
expense of helium can be done away with.
Nanotube? Some Kevlar-successor? Come on folks, there's gotta be
something!
>The ultimate "lifting gas" for an airship would be vacuum
I suppose you can guess what the tanks are made out of.
Cheers,
RAH
R. A. Hettinga rah@...
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
I thought up the idea of using a vacuum for lifting an airship
years ago. One thing though...you don't need a compleat vacuum so your
envelope may not have to be so strong.
> I thought up the idea of using a vacuum for lifting an airship
> years ago. One thing though...you don't need a compleat vacuum so
> your envelope may not have to be so strong.
low pressures? Something the size of nine blimps, using the same mass
of helium as one uses now? And as we improve the envelope, we use
less and less, until it really is a vacuum airship.
Actually, the best lifting gas of all is positronium,
a theoretical gas made of Positrons with orbital
electrons. It could have 1/1800th the mass of hydrogen
and would require no heavy
container,,,theoretically,,,
And an atom of it (positronium) lasts perhaps a microsecond before it
turns into (typically) two very dangerous and penetrating gamma rays.
This also does not consider the expense of making it.
Behalf Of GARY ANSORGE
Actually, the best lifting gas of all is positronium,
a theoretical gas made of Positrons with orbital
electrons. It could have 1/1800th the mass of hydrogen
and would require no heavy
container,,,theoretically,,,
GAry 7
True, but we were talking about something that
actually exists, as opposed to a containment shell
lighter than hydrogen yet still strong enough to
resist collapsing under 14.7 lbs pressure per square
inch.
lifting gas as we're likely to get. Still there are
cheap alternatives, such as H2O at 400 degrees F, with
a molecular weight of about 18, as opposed to the
average of air of about 29, hot H2O would therefore
have 1/3 greater lift than an equivelant volume of air
at that temperature and is chemically inert,,,ie,
"safe".
Gary 7
Can an electron and positron actually orbit each other, without anilating each other into gamma rays?
And if they can what would keep the these atoms from anilating each other when they bumped into each other.
best regards,
pete
a theoretical gas made of Positrons with orbital
electrons. It could have 1/1800th the mass of hydrogen
and would require no heavy
container,,, theoretically, ,,
GAry 7
>
> > I thought up the idea of using a vacuum for
> lifting an airship
> > years ago. One thing though...you don't need a
> compleat vacuum so
> > your envelope may not have to be so strong.
>
> Now this is a thought. Perhaps helium at high
> temperatures and very
> low pressures? Something the size of nine blimps,
> using the same mass
> of helium as one uses now? And as we improve the
> envelope, we use
> less and less, until it really is a vacuum airship.
>
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ __
Unfortunately, it's only stable for a micro second or
so and it does self destruct mainly because the
electron and positron are in orbit about each other
and the positron will of course be exposed to "normal"
matter. There have been some theoretical
considerations of other forms of "atoms" made of
positive mesons and electrons, but they are also
projected to last only a short time. Too bad!
its repulsive effects. Might make access to space
really easy,,,may even allow FTL,,,
GAry 7
--- ForDutyAndHumanity IAmSpacebearAICDA
Well, the containment shell doesn't have to be lighter than hydrogen.
It only has to be as light as the containment shells currently used
for blimps. Of course, we also need some light yet powerful pumps.