Photo courtesy of LTA Research
A simple Google search for “Hindenburg” will tell you everything you need to know about the unfortunate fate of the last great airship era. Images of the Zeppelin disaster have permeated popular culture, often serving as a metaphor for unmitigated disaster.
But Google co-founder Sergey Brin is working to change the narrative around the unique flying machine, with the goal of combating air pollution that causes global warming. Big Think reports that he plans to test-fly the Pathfinder 1 airship in California by September, before the Federal Aviation Administration’s project license expires.
According to Brin, his startup LTA (Lighter Than Air) Research, reviving airship technology could not only reduce the aviation industry’s growing pollution load but also support “humanitarian efforts.” I feel it.
Unlike the ill-fated Hindenburg before it, the Pathfinder uses non-flammable helium instead of flammable hydrogen to provide lift. In 1937, an 800-foot-long German airship was destroyed while landing in New Jersey, killing 36 people.
Blinn’s airship is planned for electric motors to provide propulsion to carry large amounts of cargo over hundreds of miles.
“It’s been a decade of blood, sweat, and tears,” LTA CEO Alan Weston said in a TechCrunch news article. “Now we have to show that this can reliably fly in real-world conditions, and we’re going to do that.”
The Pathfinder is 400 feet long and constructed with a carbon fiber skeleton and lightweight synthetic cover. The giant airship-like device first emerged from its hangar in November. Although the technology has been upgraded, the overall appearance is still similar to his early 20th century predecessor.
“The innovation and technology we are demonstrating has the potential to lay the foundation for new industries,” Weston told TechCrunch.
The aviation sector causes about 2% of the world’s air pollution. The International Energy Agency reports that the sector’s exhaust gas emissions have increased faster than shipping, rail and road transport “in recent decades.”
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Remarkably, inventions from the past (even ancient ones) are helping us transform our energy systems using sustainable resources. The ship uses a new version of the sails. In the words of Archimedes, Chinese mirrors help us harvest energy from the sun.
Now, Pathfinder is being put through its paces. TechCrunch reports that the carrier is larger than the Goodyear blimp and can travel up to 125 miles per hour.
If airships could carry cargo more cleanly, it would be of great benefit to public health. Eye irritation, breathing problems, and even lung cancer are among the concerns caused by the nuisance particles commonly found in fossil-polluted air, according to the CDC.
The creators of Pathfinder want you to be part of the solution.
“What excites me about what we’ve done so far is that we’ve been able to prove to ourselves, and show the rest of the world, that we can scale and increase productivity. That’s what we want to do,” Weston told TechCrunch. “And we believe in the possibility of scaling up again in the future.”
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