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This is a problem that every zeppelin faces too. They can't easily gain or lose height, because that would mean losing the gas they need to stay airborne. A va
by waps 12y ago
This is a problem that every zeppelin faces too. They can't easily gain or lose height, because that would mean losing the gas they need to stay airborne.
A vacuum ship that actually has a vacuum pump aboard would have the great advantage that it can easily change it's buoyancy using, say, electrical power. It could use this to change height, or compensate for being loaded with materials.
Vacuum ships would actually be a solution to the zeppelin problem.
- idlewords 12y agoA zeppelin could use compressor tanks to control its buoyancy in an exactly analagous way. Lots of details on how the problem was handled in practice here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy_compensator_(aviation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy_compensator_(aviation)
- tsotha 12y agoThere are multiple solutions to the "Zeppelin problem", as you call it, to the point that it's not much of a problem. If you had a powerful enough pump to create a reasonable vacuum it's far more powerful than the pump you need to compress helium if you need to lose buoyancy.