The blimp got to 32,000 feet but couldn’t climb higher, so controllers in Akron, Ohio, decided to bring it down with a “controlled descent” in a sparsely populated area, some heavy woods near New Freeport, about 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The ship is 270 feet long, 70 feet in diameter and filled with helium and air, which were released gradually to bring the ship to Earth. “There is no way for the airship to come down with it all filled,” Little said. “That’s how we bring it down.”

The test vehicle isn’t full size, but is made to climb to high altitude and linger there using small motors for surveillance purposes.

The goal of the program is to create an airship that can hang in the air 12 miles above the ground with surveillance capabilities like a satellite at a much lower cost.

The test vehicle isn’t full size, but is made to climb to high altitude and linger there using small motors for surveillance purposes..........................The goal of the program is to create an airship that can hang in the air 12 miles above the ground with surveillance capabilities like a satellite at a much lower cost.

articles.latimes.com...


Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights
The giant dirigible would use radar to closely and constantly monitor activity on the ground from 65,000 feet.

March 13, 2009|Julian E. Barnes

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Thursday that it intends to spend $400 million to develop a giant dirigible that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below.

"It is absolutely revolutionary," Werner J.A. Dahm, chief scientist for the Air Force, said of the proposed unmanned airship -- describing it as a cross between a satellite and a spy plane.

The 450-foot-long craft would give the U.S. military a better understanding of an adversary's movements, habits and tactics, officials said. And the ability to constantly monitor small movements in a wide area -- the Afghanistan- Pakistan border, for example -- would dramatically improve military intelligence.

"It is constant surveillance, uninterrupted," Dahm said. "When you only have a short-time view -- whether it is a few hours or a few days -- that is not enough to put the picture together."

The project reflects a shift in Pentagon planning and spending priorities under Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has urged the military services to improve intelligence and surveillance operations while cutting high-tech weaponry costs.

If successful, the dirigible -- the brainchild of the Air Force and the Pentagon's research arm -- could pave the way for a fleet of spy airships, military officials said.

...

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
I dont know about "Exposed!" I posted this at ATS last week

www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on 5-8-2011 by PhoenixOD because: (no reason given)