Great Headline, Great Idea

By | October 31, 2009
3 Comments

Every now and then you see something that just puts a smile on your face:

Humans, Shmumans: What Mars Needs Is an Armada of Robots and Blimps

Airships may be the key component in a new robotic system for exploring the celestial bodies most likely to harbor life like Mars and Jupiter’s moon, Titan.

The dirigibles would provide regional observations and autonomous command for ground-based vehicles, while maintaining contact with orbiters.

It’d be a new role for airships, which were the wonder of the aerial world in the days before airplanes (and rockets and space shuttles).

An armada of robots and airships. On Mars! Now that’s the future, folks. The future is supposed to be interesting and fun.

Here’s my artistic take on Mars in the near future:

blimpsonMars.jpg

But where are the robots, you ask? Piloting the blimps, of course.

  • Harvey

    I like the idea very much. It looks cool (there seems to be a smiley face in one of the craters).

  • K

    a very romantic idea but color me dubious….

    airship lift depends upon the density of the atmosphere. and Mars has a very thin atmosphere. (the lift problem would be partly offset by lower gravity.)

    the article itself notes that a thick atmosphere like Titan’s would be better.

    i suspect wind would be a problem. we don’t know much about the winds there but we do know high speeds are present.

    high wind speeds are not favorable to airship operations.

    of course airships don’t need to be perfect, they just need to work better than alternatives.

  • je feur

    Yes, density of atmosphere is crucial.

    People of non science background needs to consult with science before these things go public.