Balloon Inflation

Títol: Estació aerològica: Procés d’inflar un globus sonda Autor: Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya Any de l’obra original: 1923 Area geogràfica: Barcelona (Barcelonès) Editor digital: Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya Fons fotogràfic del Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya (1910-1933)

Hindenburg class airship compared to largest fixed wing aircraft

An overlay diagram showing four of the largest airplanes ever built against the largest airship, the LZ 129 Hindenburg: the Hughes H-4 Spruce Goose (aircraft with the greatest wingspan); the Antonov An-225 Mriya (the largest aircraft); the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (soon to be the largest version of the Boeing 747 Jumbojet); and the Airbus A380-800 (the largest passenger aircraft).   … Read More

My head’s a balloon inflating with the altitude

“Recycled Air” is track #5 on the album Give Up (The Postal Service). It was written by James Scott Tamborello & Benjamin Gibbard.   I take a breath and pull the air in ‘Til there’s nothing left I’m feeling green like Teenage lovers between the sheets Ba, ba ba ba, ba, ba ba ba Ba, ba ba ba, ba, ba … Read More

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a United States maintained constellation of satellites that provide access to a space-based navigation system. It gives location information if there is an unobstructed view from four or more GPS satellites. This information is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the earth surface with an accuracy of 3 … Read More

Space is spaceous

“We may be only one of millions of advanced civilizations. Unfortunately, space being spacious, the average distance between any two of these civilizations is reckoned to be at least two hundred light-years, which is a great deal more than merely saying it makes it sound. It means for a start that even if these beings know we are here and … Read More

Paris: the city of balloon pioneers

Last weekend I visited my sister, my big gem who is living in Paris. While we were visiting the Tuileries garden I stopped under a tree to take shelter in its shadow. That was the only way I had to be away just for a minute of the exhausting heat that was invading me at that moment. I started looking … Read More

How to correctly size a balloon

Balloons are measured according to its weight but not by its size. The burst altitude does not depend on the size of the balloon itself. There are more critical factors playing a role like humidity, pressure, temperature and the balloon manufacturing quality that greatly affect the final bursting diameter. The heavier the balloon is, the heavier the payloads they can … Read More