Balloon-Assisted Rockets

Radiation

Radiation

Radiation

Soldato
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12 Oct 2003
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"Earlier this week we heard that Cambridge University Spaceflight would be entering the N-Prize competition. The N-Prize is a competition to stimulate innovation directed towards obtaining cheap access to space. Most importantly, the launch budget must be within £999.99. Cambridge University Spaceflight plan to win the prize using a balloon and a rocket."

http://science.slashdot.org/science/08/07/27/1952255.shtml

I was thinking about using a balloon like this in the past but instead of being disposable, you could make a huge airship and compress the gas to return to earth so its reusable and just have the rocket detach and fly up like they do from planes?

Also i was just wondering, where do balloons get the energy from to beat mavity, because you could compress the gas and come back down again, it must be that it just doesn't really take huge amounts of energy to move stuff and we do it in such a wasteful way?
 
Radiation said:
Also i was just wondering, where do balloons get the energy from to beat mavity, because you could compress the gas and come back down again, it must be that it just doesn't really take huge amounts of energy to move stuff and we do it in such a wasteful way?
Click to expand...

Lower density gases? :confused:
 
japan planed something like this on a much bigger scale for satalite launches ages ago.

Also i was just wondering, where do balloons get the energy from to beat mavity
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Sorry but LOL

Why do bubbles rise from the bottom of a swimming pool.

Same reason.
 
Explain it on an energy level then, i know the heavier stuff takes the place of lighter stuff, so mavity is doing all the work then? what about when you compress the gas and it takes up less area so sinks again by mavity, right? or would you care to explain it better?
 
Slight twist on the X-Prize, and a budget under £1000. Very cool!


edit: just went over their website. This really seems like a clever idea. I like this caption:

www.n-prize.com said:
The N-Prize is a challenge to launch an impossibly small satellite into orbit on a ludicrously small budget, for a pitifully small cash prize.
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Quite a bit different from the X-Prize now that I've learnt more. ;)
 
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Radiation said:
So i take it i was right in thinking very little energy is used in moving against mavity?
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huh?

You do realize air ships are very very light, and so it doesn't take much more than their buoyancy to rise (to a certain hight) a space ship on the other hand is very heavy, and so needs huge amounts of power to lift it, you could use an airship the size of Texas or a chemical rocket which isn't as efficient, as energy is wasted as heat through the craft, light, sound etc etc.

AS for energy wise its hard to say, It takes exactly as much thrust to lift 1kg no matter how you do it. you can do it by chemical rocket, mechanical force of an airfoil, magnets, or a helium balloon, however it uses different amounts of energy for each.

balloons use the atmosphere o help them, and also don't really experience the air resistance of a rocket launch. (they move slow enough for it not to be a real concern)

Also a balloon is never really going to be able to lift much.


you could make a huge airship and compress the gas to return to earth so its reusable
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for that it would take a large amount of weight to provide the generators, compressors high strength tanks etc. that it would just be cheaper to let some of the gas out.
 
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