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To: ccryder who wrote (4184)	8/9/1998 2:06:00 PM
From: Mr. Adrenaline	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10852

I started to look into this more, and tried to keep an open mind. According to Sky Station, the blimps stay aloft for 10 years without refueling. They claim to accomplish this with a ion-engine. Ion engine are widely known for their high efficiency, and their low-thrust. My gut tells me that while they may get the lifetime, I would be surprised if they got the thrust they would need. But, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's say they achieve their 10 year life. I still hold that long night times in winter time for extreme latitudes will be a problem. (Implying they need to "recharge" during the short day.) Of course, it could be possibly to store that from summer months, but to suggest such would imply formidable storage capacity. From an engineering perspective, this would be quite a feat, but with fuel cells, perhaps doable. May I suggest nuclear? Oh, I can feel the heat of the flames already!!!! Lots of little nuclear generators in the sky over every major city! OK, forget the nukes.... Let's assume the even get the power generation they need. At 70,000 ft, I believe they above weather, but are definitely going to be subjected to atmospheric motion -- better known as winds aloft, but that's what the ion engines are for. They would still need to transmit through any weather, but so do satellites. What they just cannot get around is their coverage at that altitude -- a circle about 40 miles in diameter. If I didn't fat finger the calculator, you'd need 160,000 to compete with Iridium, and just 30,000 or so to compete with G*. But, I do agree with ccryder. It may be built, and deployed. Where they may find their market niche is providing extra coverage over an area for special events. Like the Olympics, or even a war... which, I'm sure, is where the idea originated from. Regards Mr A