6 ms·

This is technically a dirigible right? Surprised that term wasn't used anywhere in the article. At its current stated speed of 75mph it would take over 45hrs t

• touisteur 3y ago
  One smooth Hackathon in the cloud(s).
• nroets 3y ago
  With the advent of Star Link, those 45 hours will be somewhat productive.
  • metabagel 3y ago
    Starlink isn’t the only nor the first satellite internet provider.
    • mensetmanusman 3y ago
      It is for high speed low latency.
    • stcredzero 3y ago
      > Starlink isn’t the only nor the first satellite internet provider. It seems to be doing the best job so far at providing reduced latency while scaling coverage fast. From what I've seen, everyone else was stuck in a niche mentality, willing to milk that niche with high prices. Starlink is the first thing to come along aimed at completely solving last mile for out of the way locations.
    • foobiekr 3y ago
      [flagged]
    • Difwif 3y ago
      Did you actually use HughesNet or Viasat? It absolutely sucked compared to Starlink on both price and performance. I really don't understand why everyone feels the need to dunk on Starlink (probably musk related). It is an order of magnitude improvement.
    • DarmokJalad1701 3y ago
      Okay. What kind of bandwidth and latency was possible out over the ocean prior to Starlink (or with current alternatives, if any)?
• arbuge 3y ago
  The quietness will depend on how well sound-insulated those diesel generators are I guess. They'd probably have to be running for most of that trip given that battery technology is where it is currently.
  • bertil 3y ago
    I’m assuming that it would be feasible to cover the ship with flexible solar pannels and not need generators, but I understand that they want to deal with one problem at a time.
    • krupan 3y ago
      You aren't going to have sunlight for 45 hours straight
      • bertil 3y ago
        Of course not, but you can have sunlight for 12, reach the jetstream, cut the engines unless you are maneuvering, store some energy to have enough to operate for the next 12 hours, and replenish your batteries for 12 more hours while you still don’t need it too much. Before that is depleted, you should have arrived.
    • ianburrell 3y ago
      It wouldn't be feasible to cover the ship in solar panels. Solar panels, even light flexible ones, weight too much. To be able to take off, the dirigible is covered in lightweight fabric.
• tbalsam 3y ago
  I'm on the spectrum, and I hate loud noises with a burning passion (due to the fact that the all of the information usually hurts like all get-out), but something ever since being a child that has gotten me extremely excited whenever I hear it is in the slow, giant-engine-whine "whip whip whip whip whip whip whip whip whip" sound of traditional old-school dirigibles from movies and such. I don't even know if the classical dirigibles even make that noise. It just gives me dopamine. I relearned a similar lesson while hiking the Appalachian Trail this year, I stayed at a paid campsite by the railroad tracks. I thought I was going to hate it, but somehow my adult, self-believed rational self turned into a gasp-giggling, excitedly-breathing, and hand-clapping and jumping up and down experience whenever a train came by (and blew its horn at full volume because we were right freaking near a train crossing). Intellectually I don't have the strongest passion for trains, but viscerally is something else. It did not matter if it woke me at 4-5 in the morning, I would always lift the hammock tarp and find myself very excited each time. My emotions about the issue are roughly about the same as if you personally suddenly found your body and brain doing that around trains. I'll probably seek trains out more for that reason (because it feels...amazing!), and continue working through whatever residual shame lies in authentically experiencing such a thing as my self with that kind of joy. My brain may be autistic, but my soul is not, so some things require adjustment. <3 :')))) ;')))) :')))) <3 Still, what a beautiful thing to have such small things to make me extremely happy, no matter how unexpected or "strange", given the context.
  • dhosek 3y ago
    There seems to be something somehow wired into (at least some) people’s brains that makes trains appealing. You don’t see, e.g., BusFan forums to correlate with the RailFan forums. Heck, I can entertain myself for extended stretches of time just following the path of railroad tracks on Google Maps.
    • technothrasher 3y ago
      There probably aren't as many bus spotters as train spotters out there, but they definitely do exist in more than de minimus numbers.
  • 3y ago
• aaarrm 3y ago
  If this was cheap, I'd definitely ride it for long trips like that, but I'm sure it will not be. I guess I'm curious also what the interior is like and how much square footage they have available too. Edit, I found this information in a different article: It could eventually carry up to 14 people and has a cargo capacity of up to 11,000 pounds. To that end, LTA says the airship will be primarily used to bring humanitarian aid (food and supplies) to remote areas that are difficult to access via traditional aircraft and vehicles.
• barbazoo 3y ago
  I didn't get from the article or their vision https://www.ltaresearch.com/our-story https://www.ltaresearch.com/our-story that "New York to London" is their mission.
  • Magi604 3y ago
    Yeah I was just musing.
• mytailorisrich 3y ago
  If it's much cheaper than plane but still much faster than container ships it could be useful for some types of cargo.
  • hef19898 3y ago
    Nowhere near enough cargo capacity so. And never will...
    • mytailorisrich 3y ago
      Then it will remain a curiosity.
• paxys 3y ago
  Think of it as equivalent to a container ship rather than a passenger jet.
• jessriedel 3y ago
  "Dirigible" re-directs to the "Airship" on wikipedia, and the dictionary also considers them to be synonyms. I think "dirigible" is just considered to be a dated term and to not add anything.