Riding a rocket into space is like riding a controlled explosion, as astronaut Mike Mullane famously put it. JP Aerospace has a gentler plan – lighter-than-air vehicles that lift people and cargo into orbit in three stages over the course of several days. First, a 175-foot-long Atmospheric Ascender (shown above and right) rises to a construction platform at 140,000 feet – the edge of space. Safe from balloon-shredding terrestrial winds, crew members assemble a larger, more buoyant craft and loft it into orbit. This summer, the Rancho Cordova, California-based firm plans to float its Ascender prototype higher than ever, up to 100,000 feet.
Company founder John Powell is confident his airship will make it. As head of this mostly volunteer, DIY space program, he understands slow, steady progress; limited funding has meant upgrading in baby steps, which translates to 27 years of transatmospheric flying. Can an outfit financed largely by selling hats, T-shirts, and high-altitude ads really outfly NASA? Powell thinks so. “There’s the whole myth about rocket science,” he says. “It’s really not that hard. It’s not brain surgery.”
- Kara Platoni
credit:
START
Floating to Space
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