Sounds cool, sort of like the SHIELD Helicarrier in Marvel Comics! Has potential, but it'd be nice if such conveyances could oneday be for the masses. Not to change the topic, but as for futuristic transportation, I'm still waiting, and waiting for the supersonic undergound tubes. Two of Gene Roddenberry's movies from the '70s showcased such a system: "Genesis II" and "Planet Earth". Such a system could move people across the continent in speeds exceeding those of airplanes, as the tunnels would be in near vaccuum. An MIT professor discussed it in an interview. Here's what he said: http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/i08/impact8_prof.html We can imagine a world in which people are traveling in high-speed underground transportation systems that operate in near vacuum, insulated tunnels with very low air pressure. Studies decades ago suggested this system could connect New York and Los Angeles with a trip time of half an hour. You could imagine a world in which every human is a global citizen who could travel from one side of the earth to the other one within one and a half hours. That is, of course, a very long term vision, but technologically possible. Now, the question is, who is going to pay for it? And perhaps this is where the economic realities come to bear.
-----Original Message----- From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of g123curious Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 16:46 To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Time to buy tickets to Fhloston Paradise "Two multi-pass tickets, please." FYI. Click on the link to see a picture of the cruise/space ship. George - - - - - - - - - http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/02/16/aeroscraft/index.html Technology: THe Future Now The flying luxury hotel of tomorrow Cruise ship will sail through the air, not the water By Joshua Tompkins Popular Science Thursday, February 16, 2006; Posted: 4:35 p.m. EST (21:35 GMT) The Aeroscraft cruise ship will ferry passengers across the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. (PopSci.com) -- This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms. Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body -- driven by huge rearward propellers -- generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent. This two-football-fields-long concept airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately-funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010. Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project, and for good reason: The craft would have a range of several thousand miles and, with an estimated top speed of 174 miles per hour, could traverse the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would peer at national landmarks just 8,000 feet below or, if they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms, restaurants, even a casino. To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells. A sophisticated buoyancy-management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to manage onboard weight. The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart parking lot or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig. "You can land on the snow, you can land on the water," Pasternak says. "It's a new vision of what can be done in the air." -0- FACT BOX - AEROSCRAFT FACTS: Purpose: Long-range travel for passengers who are more concerned with the journey than the destination. Dimensions: 165 feet (height) x 244 feet (width) x 647 feet (length) Max Speed: 174 miles per hour Range: 6,000 miles Capacity: 250 passengers Source: Popular Science -0- SPONSORED LINKS Science <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Science+fiction+and+fantasy&w1=Scie nce+fiction+and+fantasy&w2=Genre+magazine&c=2&s=53&.sig=8s5ldQicr16mMwkM wHGybg> fiction and fantasy Genre <http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=ms&k=Genre+magazine&w1=Science+fiction+a nd+fantasy&w2=Genre+magazine&c=2&s=53&.sig=6x48yHym4cI_VD4C3GisSg> magazine _____ YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS * Visit your group "scifinoir2 <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2> " on the web. * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> . _____ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
