If the Moon or Mars will we . . .

> Actually, thinking about lifting vehicles made me remember one
question I
> still have unanswered, and may be of interest to the list... why
we list off
> from ground?
> Isn't possible to strap balloons to a rocket, take it basically
free up to
> at least 33000 feet, and then ignite? It would still start from
near to zero
> speed, but having 10km less to travel should allow a considerable
save in
> the amount of fuel needed, which in turn means the whole thing
would be
> lighter and I'd imagine considerably cheaper...?

The da Vinci Project team thinks this is workable, and are using the
idea as the basis for their X Prize entry:
http://www.xprize.org/teams/davinci.html

The world's largest helium balloon will carry their rocket to 80000
feet.

Ed

> I know Boeing was to explore stratospheric airship concepts,
mainly for
> hauling oversized heavy goods over long distances IIRC, but I
haven't heard
> anything on that side in ages...
> Is lighter than air unfashionable, or there are technical
limitations I'm