The future of scientific ballooning.

Full Abstract

This paper gives a brief overview of the historical development of scientific balloons and their capabilities. Furthermore, a recent programme by NASA is introduced that aims to develop balloons capable of carrying payloads of several tonnes to above 99% of the Earth's atmosphere for up to 100 days. It is shown that the currently investigated balloons suffer from instabilities that can be minimized using a different design paradigm for the cutting patterns. Finally, a novel balloon design, similar to the topology of radiolarians, is introduced that is potentially superior to existing designs.

Author information

Author/s: Pagitz, Markus (M);

Affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK. mp403(-atsign-)cam.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Review

Journal: Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences (Philos Transact A Math Phys Eng Sci), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Dec; vol 365 (issue 1861) : pp 3003-17

Dates: Created 2007/10/18; Completed 2008/01/03; Revised 2009/04/16;

PMID: 17855226, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 4/16/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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