• carl_dungeon@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    This is dumb as shit. Hot air balloons only go so high, less than 70k feet according to records. They only stay aloft if the heat is continually applied, if not, air cools and they sink. They move with the air, and the air moves with the planet.

    This doesn’t work for the same reason jumping in an airplane doesn’t slam you into the back wall.

    • Willy
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      10 months ago

      I don’t think it was posted because it was brilliant…

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        10 months ago

        If you go much higher the balloon will leak heat through black body radiation faster than you’ll be able to heat it. And even if you insulated the balloon in a way that didn’t add too much weight you’d eventually get to the top of the atmosphere and hot air balloons won’t go into space because they don’t have any propulsion systems.

        If you fill it with helium, it will go into space, and then it will immediately explode.

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Balloons using hydrogen can reach 33 miles. But even then the atmosphere still moves with the ground.