Engineers Build a Balloon-House, Proving Up! (Sort of) Totally Possible

[Scott Bullock]

Engineers Build a Balloon-House, Proving Up! (Sort of) Totally Possible

The people at National Geographic know that the best way to prove a balloon-powered flying house is possible is to get a bunch of balloons and build one yourself.

The National Geographic Channel, along with a team of engineers and balloon pilots, successfully managed to launch a 16' x 16' x 18' house 10,000 feet in the air on Saturday, where the 10 story tall, 300 balloon construct flew for over an hour.

The experiment, modeled on the floating house from Pixar's movie Up! was carried out and filmed for an upcoming show on the National Geographic Channel, entitled How Hard Can It Be? The answer, for a real house, turned out to be "nearly impossible."

So instead of attempting to float a real, full-sized and completely furnished home, the team decided to build their own bare-bones house that might actually be capable of flying. The construction took more than a full day of working, even with volunteers, but the balloon-house was finally ready by dawn, when it was finally launched, setting the world record for largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted in the process.

It is an impressive feat, and I'm sure it will make great TV, but I think I know what question you all are asking right now, because I'm asking it too:

How the hell did they get it down?

Source: IWatchStuff [http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/upinspired-floating-house-14]



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[Aurora219]

It is an impressive feat, and I'm sure it will make great TV, but I think I know what question you all are asking right now, because I'm asking it too:

How the hell did they get it down?

Rifle and lots of bullets.

I WANT A GO!

 

[Veldel]

So am I the only one who would love to live in a flying home?

 

[Dfskelleton]

Dude, I did this once in Garry's Mod.
It was so fun, me in my flying house.

 

[Booze Zombie]

How did they get it down? Grappling guns, obviously.

 

[dex-dex]

I had heard that they did this but had little belief that it was true.
I'm speechless.

 

[Cpu46]

It is an impressive feat, and I'm sure it will make great TV, but I think I know what question you all are asking right now, because I'm asking it too:

How the hell did they get it down?

Rifle and lots of bullets.

I WANT A GO!

We have to go in order, it goes Me then Simmons then me, you, Simmons, me, me, you, me, Simmons, me, me, me! It makes perfect sense! /Redvsblue reference.


OT: Honestly I wish I could have watched that, it sounds like fun.

EDIT: Move over Inglip, Lord Sarnan has come!

 

[Denamic]

My guess is with BB guns.
That'd be awesome.

 

[Kwatsu]

They didn't. It will fly over us forever as a silent guardian, descending whenever someone really needs a house.

 

[omicron1]

I wonder about the mass of helium used by this house's lift as compared to the Up house - did they use a similar amount? More? Less?

 

[duchaked]

how DID that get it down...

wasn't there a guy in it? (thought I saw him in it in another picture)

 

[aashell13]

I'm waiting for someone to build the Winnebago Zeppelin, but without the hydrogen lifting gas and rocket-fuel based paint...

 

[Henrik Moeller]

You don't have to shoot it down, as balloons rise to thinner air the internal pressure is greater than the external, expanding the balloon until it bursts or the molecules are so far apart that air is released between them.

 

[Theron Julius]

How did they get it down? Well if Dead Space has taught me anything, engineers have a plethora of effective construction and mining tools that could take down something as measly as a balloon

 

[ethaninja]

How did they get it down? Grappling guns, obviously.

Nooo, Physics Gun of course

 

[Mr.Mattress]

You don't have to shoot it down, as balloons rise to thinner air the internal pressure is greater than the external, expanding the balloon until it bursts or the molecules are so far apart that air is released between them.

But due to wind currents and wind patterns, this would be extremely dangerous when the house lands...

OT: That looks awesome! I want a flying house!!

 

[Dooly95]

Perhaps they just left it.

And found it landed somewhere far away.

Like New York.

 

[emeraldrafael]

It went over the rainbow. This is obviously advertisement for the wizard of oz 2.

 

[Evilsanta]

Awesome! Though how did they get it down?

I wouldn't want to be close to site as the ballons pop.