There be space balloons

[Gingerbread Demon]

Interesting page but this sounds like people might be jumping the gun a little wanting to take people's noney with no actual craft built.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/13/balloons-to-hoist-tourists-100000-feet-into-the-stratosphere.html#:~:text=Ticket%20prices%20range%20from%20%2450%2C000,service%20gets%20off%20the%20ground.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Ah, I thought you might be talking about vacuum airships constructed using advanced aerogel materials. There is the problem of 101,325 Pa external pressure at sea level to overcome, but there are rumours that the US military have used such technology for several decades to build stealth reconnaissance blimps.

I've been to 38,000 feet and that was enough for me.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Ah, I thought you might be talking about vacuum airships constructed using advanced aerogel materials. There is the problem of 101,325 Pa external pressure at sea level to overcome, but there are rumours that the US military have used such technology for several decades to build stealth reconnaissance blimps.

I've been to 38,000 feet and that was enough for me.

Don't some airlines fly that high?

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Don't some airlines fly that high?

I was on a UA flight between Chicago and San Francisco. I don't think long-haul commercial flights go above 42,000 feet and 35,000 feet is apparently considered optimal. Apparently, business jets can reach 50,000 feet and Concorde operated most efficiently when cruising at Mach 2 at 60,000 feet. I could definitely see the curvature of the Earth from 38,000 feet, although flat earthers would probably blame the windows.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I was on a UA flight between Chicago and San Francisco. I don't think long-haul commercial flights go above 42,000 feet and 35,000 feet is apparently considered optimal. Apparently, business jets can reach 50,000 feet and Concorde operated most efficiently when cruising at Mach 2 at 60,000 feet. I could definitely see the curvature of the Earth from 38,000 feet, although flat earthers would probably blame the windows.

I don't know what height Mt Everest is but in the old days didn't 747s fly over that high?

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I don't know what height Mt Everest is but in the old days didn't 747s fly over that high?

Mount Everest is 29,032 feet high. The service ceiling of a Boeing 747 is 43,100 feet. However, most air routes avoid the Himalayas because of turbulence.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Mount Everest is 29,032 feet high. The service ceiling of a Boeing 747 is 43,100 feet. However, most air routes avoid the Himalayas because of turbulence.

OK fact noted.

 

[Moonglum]

I was on a UA flight between Chicago and San Francisco. I don't think long-haul commercial flights go above 42,000 feet and 35,000 feet is apparently considered optimal. Apparently, business jets can reach 50,000 feet and Concorde operated most efficiently when cruising at Mach 2 at 60,000 feet. I could definitely see the curvature of the Earth from 38,000 feet, although flat earthers would probably blame the windows.

You're just lucky that you didn't crash into the firmament, or the inside of Ymir's skull, depending on what mythology you follow.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

ETA: Attribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flammarion_engraving

 

[XCV330]

Speaking of space balloons, but more like balloons with a lot of space:

Cloud Nine (sphere) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This always seemed like one of those megaprojects that was an answer waiting for a question, but these might work very well as Venus cloud colony environments.

 

[publiusr]

Here is a different type of space balloon

Balloons on the Moon

the blog about vintage and modern space toys, Project SWORD, SpaceX and Golden Astronaut, Monsters, sci-fi and vintage toys

projectswordtoys.blogspot.com