Unmanned Solar Hot Air Balloons
For some high-altitude ballooning applications, helium or other lighter-than-air
gasses are not needed. Many groups have used balloons that contain only air,
heated by the sun's rays.
While these balloons do not typically generate as much lift per cubic foot of
envelope volume, they are much less expensive to build and fly than helium or
hydrogen balloons.
UND personnel have constructed and flown a number of these balloons:
- 10 foot solar "tetroon" (tetrahedral balloon) - July 21, 2013
- 16 foot solar tetroon - December 9, 2013
- 16 foot solar tetroon - July 2, 2014 (launch failure)
- 10 foot solar/helium tetroon - August 21, 2014 (tethered test flight)
- 16 foot solar tetroon - July 21, 2015
- 16 foot solar tetroon - July 22, 2015 (recovery failure)
- 16 foot solar tetroon - July 22, 2016
- 16 foot solar pillow - July 29, 2016
- 16 foot solar tetroon - July 10, 2017
- 16 foot solar tetroon - July 27, 2017
Other solar balloon websites: