...and all the black helicopter theorists adjust their tinfoil hats...

And it's remote control. Everyone is going to want one.

Skarekroh: Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you...

Anyone ever notice how in the movies all the government-controlled police-states of the future always have a zepplin floating around the city...?



::Goes off to buy more tinfoil...:: ;)

What the fark is a "non-image image?"

Hurm... we'll try that again...

Fraggingaddamngrrr...

so they hired michael moore??

Nope its Condalezza Rice

blimp envy?

it's Anna Nicole Smith's ass. After a few weeks on Atkins.

For once, I don't think I'd hit it. Not even with my car.

It's not the size of your blimp that counts, it's the.. uhh.. *sigh*, nevermind I'm going to bed.

While the view might be great from way up there, no one will get to see it. The high-tech airship will be unmanned and operated from the ground via computer controls.

Spoilsports.

Meltdown alert? Mad dog drill? Blimp attack? Ah... I think a good old-fashioned fire drill today.

Monica is back in the white house?

I read about this in the Pentagon's report "Hey, why don't we put a camera on a giant blimp?"

/Daily Show

These things have been around for years. Several huge triangular-shaped ones have been in service for years and are responsible for a lot of UFO sightings.

Blimp. I like that word. Blimp, blimp blimp.

Maybe, someday, we can use giant blimps like this one to bomb enemy nations.

Ninja_Pancakes - Shouldn't that be "On the Roboticry!"?

Christ that was lame.

Is there anything that the Pentagon can't piss away tons of cash on?

As in, what I said was lame.

Dammit.

Blimpy Blimpy boy....

Its been done

What a strange coincidence. Last year, I took the capstone engineering course in my major (Aerospace Engineering), and our project was to do the preliminary design work for an unamanned aircraft to carry radar over the US, and supplement ground based radars (the current radar system is woefully inadequate for detecting threats).

Anyway, we ended up deciding that a lot of factors made a blimp (actually a dirigible) the ideal choice (mostly that unlike a plane, blimps require no power to stay aloft).

Our professor wasn't too thrilled with our solution, and it turned out that deisgning a dirigible (especially a remote control one) is harder than it sounds. Still, nice to see at least the Pentagon agrees with us.

micah476 asks:

Is there anything that the Pentagon can't piss away tons of cash on?

How about a descent space fleet of its own? Currently it piggy backs on NASA's gear. While the military is probably transferring some funds to NASA to compensate, no doubt there are things not getting done by NASA that could be getting done because they have to play taxi.

Back during the Reagan administration, the DoD had plans for building launch facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base and having their own fleet of space shuttles (if not Enterprise-class then something of similar capability). The facilities were mostly completed, then the budget ax came down and there was no more money for shuttles.

--h

I don't know whether to be frightened by our government's need to spy on everyone like this or disgusted by this huge amount of worthless pork. I'll just go with a mixture of both.

Prozium, Prozac see the connection???

/Adjusts Wax paper hat...

Whats the point? "umm we've got a missile heading for the pentagon! Quick oreder the blimpt to intercept!" .. I dun get it..

You can see 4 meter satellites from the ground nowdays when the sun hits them just right. You will be able to see that monster from the ground no matter how high they fly it.

now I feel safe, thanks Asscroft!

Up up and away in my beautiful, my beautiful baallOOOOOON...

You will be able to see that monster from the ground no matter how high they fly it.

I feel safer already!

A German company is designing blimps that could be a MUCH more cost effective alternative/supplement to our maritime prepositioning fleet for the purpose of strategic deployment of heavy forces. Piss away money? Hardly. Blimps are a lot cheaper than a fleet of C17s and contracted 747s.

.....oops.

....the view might be great from way up there, no one will get to see it.

I did not read that correctly - thought they meant the thing would not be visible from the ground.

......

Great! Now I'll never leave the house. Except, maybe at night, you know, to piss on my neighbor's lawn.

Icepick, be careful out there pissing. What with motion sensors, infrared sensors, and DNA testing (not to mention handwriting analysis if you write your name), you could be in jail for weenie wagging in a public place

it turned out that deisgning a dirigible (especially a remote control one) is harder than it sounds.

Granted, I'm not an areospace engineer, so I'll just sound like an idiot to you, probably.

But I don't see what's so hard about it, you slap in a couple of high capicity capacitors, put some solar panels on the top of it, make sure it stays at an altitude where there are little/no clouds to cover the solar panels, and then you put the propellers in, with radio controls for movement if it needs to be moved. Then you slap in all the high-tech equipment 'n stuff, hoping that you can draw enough power from the solar panels to run it all.

And if not, then just build several blimps, so that you still have all the stuff you need, even if it isn't in a single blimp.

Or dirigible, whatever.

Haha. Suck it long and hard Goodyear!

Evidently, size DOES matter...

Well, in love and war anyway...

Am I the only one who thought of an old episode of SNL from the '70's when Hugh Hefner was the host? There was a Sci-Fi sketch about two spaceships, a cigar-shaped one piloted by men and a doughnut-shaped one pilot women, that "collide" during battle.

Blimp on
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/akron/protech/aeroweb/aerostat/haa.htm

You will be able to see that monster from the ground no matter how high they fly it.

I feel safer already!

Yeah, and if it's dirigible-shaped, they'll all look like giant EYES staring down at us.

I think this is all a scheme to justify the federal strategic helium reserve and the helium debt.

And to spy on us.

/contains no aluminum

Do you think the pentagon is trying to compensate for something? :)

Oops. Farked the link:
federal strategic helium reserve and the helium debt

Habe etwas zeit fur mich? Singe ich ein lied fur dich, von nuen und nuenzig luftballoons...

But, still, and seriously, when are they actually going to start designing things like the Ion Cannon from Command & Conquer?

Granted, that'd be scary as hell, no matter what nation had it in space, but still, it'd be spiffy.

Surprising that they don't mention one of the most logical uses for this -- as an airborne platform for an anti-missile laser network.

Update on Helium Legislation: 1-2-97

For an inert gas, helium managed to stir up a great deal of activity and controversy the past two years.

Eh?