'World View' Wants To Send You To the Stratosphere in a Balloon (bloomberg.com) 26
pacopico writes:
First World View hung Google SVP Alan Eustace at the end of a balloon and then dropped him 135,908 feet back to Earth. Then, it sent a KFC chicken sandwich to the edge of space. Now, World View has figured out how to get high-altitude balloons to sail winds in the stratosphere and travel for thousands of miles. They're being used to take detailed pictures of the Earth, send communications to far off places and learn more about the weather.
This strange company was founded by two people who lived in Biosphere 2, and they say they're doing all this balloon work to get people to think differently about the planet. In a few years, they plan to send people up to the edge of space in a capsule and let them hang out for a couple hours, while they sip cocktails and reflect on life or something like that.
The flights would cost $75,000 per person -- the money from KFC is already being used to build new software (along with sensors, and of course, durable balloons). Bloomberg Businessweek reports: Since the Zinger, it's conducted more than 50 flights, primarily for the U.S. government, and kept its balloons up in the air for many days at a time. "People want us to do things like sit over the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and look for pirates," says Taber MacCallum, co-founder and chief technology officer. The company plans to start flying for commercial clients early next year. "Basically, our mission is to take over the stratosphere," he says.
Interestingly, Elon Musk also asked MacCallum's first company to design a greenhouse for Mars.
This strange company was founded by two people who lived in Biosphere 2, and they say they're doing all this balloon work to get people to think differently about the planet. In a few years, they plan to send people up to the edge of space in a capsule and let them hang out for a couple hours, while they sip cocktails and reflect on life or something like that.
The flights would cost $75,000 per person -- the money from KFC is already being used to build new software (along with sensors, and of course, durable balloons). Bloomberg Businessweek reports: Since the Zinger, it's conducted more than 50 flights, primarily for the U.S. government, and kept its balloons up in the air for many days at a time. "People want us to do things like sit over the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and look for pirates," says Taber MacCallum, co-founder and chief technology officer. The company plans to start flying for commercial clients early next year. "Basically, our mission is to take over the stratosphere," he says.
Interestingly, Elon Musk also asked MacCallum's first company to design a greenhouse for Mars.
I have an idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
the parachute is optional.
Re: (Score:2)
Can we all pitch in like $5 to pay some flat Earth idiot to go on this thing?
Wouldn't do any good -- the radiation would damage his brain so much that he'd think the Earth was round. Good try, though.
Re:I have an idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't waste one second more of your short and valuable life on such idiots. Let's all pitch in $5 to bring clean water to another village instead.
Re: (Score:2)
It's cheaper to just explain gravity to them. I think that's where their minds lose the plot. The idea of floating around on a giant ball and not falling off on the other side is counterintuitive. So they spend all their energy trying to have solid ground to stand on. Inertia is easier to understand, we've all spun around as children. Flip the earth inside out, spin it a bit... put the stars in the middle... it all makes sense now!
Re: (Score:1)
I was just thinking the same thing. Crowdfund two or three of the most popular and see what happens to their rhetoric.
Unit converter (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
So, you are saying these 'couple hours at the edge of space' is so that people can join the 41.4 km club?
Sounds interesting (Score:2)
Going on the presumption they have a ton of safety systems built in along with multiple redundant systems, this would be a very interesting ride. Looking up to see the blackness of space, out to see the curvature of Earth, and down to all the folks below.
My bank account can handle it, but it would be nice if they brought the price down.
What abour radiation exposure? (Score:3)
One thing the atmosphere does for us is block cosmic radiation, both solar and interstellar. Once you get high enough above sea level, you lose much of that protection. According to http://www.bbc.com/future/stor... [bbc.com]
> In the US, pilots and flight attendants have been officially classed
> as "radiation workers" by the Federal Aviation Administration
> since 1994. Staff regularly working on high-latitude flights are
> exposed to more radiation than workers in nuclear power plants.
That's from flying up to 35,000 feet ASL (Above Sea Level). According to https://www.sablesys.com/suppo... [sablesys.com] air pressure at 35,000 feet (10,000 metres = approx 33,000 feet) is approx 24% of sea level pressure, so you've lost 76% of atmospheric protection. At 100,000 feet (30.5 km) pressure is approx 1% of sea level pressure, so you've lost 99% of protection.
I can imagine warnings for pregnant women, etc.