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It's both heavier and lighter! There's a compressor that can bring air in from the outside and make it heavier than air, and then this air can be released makin
by MagicPropmaker 7y ago
It's both heavier and lighter! There's a compressor that can bring air in from the outside and make it heavier than air, and then this air can be released making it lighter again. This is explained in the article. It really is something new.
- PeterisP 7y agoLike a hot air balloon which becomes heavier than air or lighter than air by regulating temperature in order to ascend or descend? That's fancy tech as of year 1800.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoAs long as we're nitpicking terminology, hot air balloons aren't airships either, they're aerostats. And they certainly don't use their variable bouyancy to propel themselves in directed flight. Saying this thing is just a hot air balloon is like saying an airplane is just a glider.
- sfotm 7y agoHow would a more traditional airship descend, if not by becoming heavier than the air surrounding it?
- jwilli 7y agoIt's new because it is being done in the atmosphere. I work with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) which have employed this method of propulsion for at least a decade. For AUVs the variable buoyancy is achieved by having an expandable bladder of fluid which can be contacted to allow ballast to enter or expanded to expel ballast. Check out Slocum gliders if you are curios