Revival of Airship Travel?

I remember reading a science fiction book in the mid-80’s that featured airship transportation on away planets. I had done a report about the Hindenburg a few years before that and thought the idea was daft. Turns out (perhaps unsurprisingly) apparently I’m the daft one, as NASA has begun constructing transportation airships for use right here on Earth! The ships are very different beasts than the old Hindenburg models. They feature more aerodynamic designs and high tech structures that make them safer to use. They also have better controlled ballast systems so they can land, take off, and maintain altitudes much easier than models from 70 years ago. One of the neater more immediate usages of the airships is use in remote areas like Alaska where airplanes simply can’t reach. NASA estimates moving to air travel for our cargo transportation needs could save a great deal of unnecessary fossil fuel expense currently spent on trucking and the like. Other improvements could be made to the systems, including the addition of solar cells and the ability to lift incredibly heavy loads – up to 1,000 tons of cargo!


2 Replies to “Revival of Airship Travel?”

  1. Jesse

    Decrease rail accidents by replacing some cars with airships attached to locomotives. Give the train hobbyists a new dimension to deal with!

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