Military Blimp Breaks Free and Drifts Over the Mid-Atlantic Trailing Tether (baltimoresun.com) 196
McGruber writes: The Baltimore Sun reports that a military surveillance blimp has broken free of its mooring at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and was last seen drifting at 16,000 ft over Pennsylvania. The 243-foot-long, helium-filled JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System) aerostat detached from its mooring at about 11:54 a.m. Wednesday. It was trailing approximately 6,700 feet of cable. "Anyone who sees the aerostat is advised to contact 911 immediately," spokeswoman Heather Roelker said. "People are warned to keep a safe distance from the airship and tether as contact with them may present significant danger."
Catastrophic Failure? (Score:5, Interesting)
FTFA: "Raytheon, the contractor that makes the blimps, says the cable is unlikely to break.
"The chance of that happening is very small because the tether is made of Vectran and has withstood storms in excess of 100 knots," the company said on its website. "However, in the unlikely event it does happen, there are a number of procedures and systems in place which are designed to bring the aerostat down in a safe manner.""
So what exactly happened? The cable broke, AND they are unable to get the blimp to safely land?
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That's funny, because one of the operators was just interviewed on CNN. He stated it was NOT uncommon for the tether to break, and it happened several times in Afghanistan. One even broke loose and went into Iran.
Someone is lying, and my bet it's Raytheon, because government contracts lie and commit fraud all the time.
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Let's translate:
FTFA: "Raytheon, the contractor that makes the blimps, says the cable is unlikely to break.
"The chance of that happening is very small because the tether is made of Vectran and has withstood storms in excess of 100 knots," the company said on its website.
Clearly this was a terrorist attack by mother nature, because since our product has never failed in any previous storm it would not fail in a future storm. Due to this attack, more blimps are needed to protect the existing blimps.
"However, in the unlikely event it does happen, there are a number of procedures and systems in place which are designed to bring the aerostat down in a safe manner.""
For example, gravity will bring the aerostat down safely, eventually. In addition to gravity, we
Is there a chance the tether could bend? (Score:2)
Monocable!!
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JLENS is supposed to float at 10,000 feet so I would say it doesn't sound like a mooring point failure.
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It was made in China
Save the Helium! (Score:4, Funny)
Oh please, think of all that precious Helium!!!!
Exploding Helium! (Score:5, Funny)
Oy! Apparently MSNBC had commentary explaining that helium was explosive and dangerous. O_o
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Oy! Apparently MSNBC had commentary explaining that helium was explosive and dangerous. O_o
Specifically, chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski said helium was flammable. Not sure whether it was a brain fart or he's just clueless about the chemistry.
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chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski said helium was flammable.
I believe proper term is inflammable like when they wrote on gasoline tanker trucks but used "flammable." Otherwise some may interpret it as unflammable. Of course these days they simply put "1203" on their code sign. I think if they blimp had "1046" code sign then everything will be ok.
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Re:Exploding Helium! (Score:5, Informative)
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Good. I love toast. Now let's talk about butter, and jelly.
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The Sun does not fuse helium. It fuses 4 hydrogen atoms into helium.
4 hydrogen atoms? Hydrogen has a single proton, helium has two. Where do the other 2 protons go?
Or does the process require 4 hydrogen atoms to make 2 helium atoms, because 2 hydrogen atoms do not have enough FOOBAR by themselves to fuse? What might the FOOBAR be? Energy? Mass?
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Helium also has two neutrons, while hydrogen has none, so you do need four particles - two protons that stay protons, and two that become neutrons by absorbing an electron - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] .
Thank you!
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Hydrogen was the lowest bidder. So we are all good and safe.
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Interesting aside: It was the filling of these two aerostats that exhausted the US supply of Helium a year or two ago.
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We're deeing thee beest theet we keen. Theer wheel be pleenty eave helium. Treest eece.
Should have used Duck Tape (Score:2)
Re:Should have used Duck Tape (Score:5, Informative)
Both duct tape and duck tape are acceptable. In fact if anything "duck tape" is the more correct answer. From wikipedia:
The first material called "duck tape" was long strips of plain cotton duck cloth used in making shoes stronger, for decoration on clothing, and for wrapping steel cables or electrical conductors to protect them from corrosion or wear.[2] For instance, in 1902, steel cables supporting the Manhattan Bridge were first covered in linseed oil then wrapped in duck tape before being laid in place. ...
After the war, the duck tape product was sold in hardware stores for household repairs. The Melvin A. Anderson Company of Cleveland, Ohio, acquired the rights to the tape in 1950.[15] It was commonly used in construction to wrap air ducts.[19] Following this application, the name "duct tape" came into use in the 1950s, along with tape products that were colored silvery gray like tin ductwork
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape
I love nothing more then proving pedantic fools wrong. :)
Duck Tape is a registered trademark (Score:2)
used by Henckel for a duct tape product. which is actually no good for ducting, because it dries out and comes apart. metallic aluminum tape with a different glue is what is professionally used for air ducting.
Re:Should have used Duck Tape (Score:5, Funny)
'than'
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I love nothing more then proving pedantic fools wrong. :)
'than'
Lol, *BOOM*, headshot!
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I love nothing more then proving pedantic fools wrong. :)
'than'
What's that smell of smoke in here?
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When you find a comment like that, you just know there's a grammar mistake in there somewhere.
Even if you've written it yourself.
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If we're being pedantic then, and my English is not the best, I think there might be more:
In fact if anything "duck tape" is the more correct answer.
Maybe:
In fact, if anything, "duct tape" is the more...
I'm not sure that quotation marks are correct either.
It might be:
In fact, if anything, 'duct tape' is the more...
As formatting is allowed, if I recall the writing standards, we might want to go with:
In fact, if anything duct tape is the more...
I mean, you know, if we're going to be pedantic... However, I use the shotgun approach with commas, so don't trust me.
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Duct tape. No one's abducting ducks
https://tw-projects.s3.amazona... [amazonaws.com]
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Duct tape. No one's abducting ducks
I beg to differ. I think there is a full length Shaun the Sheep documentary of just such an event. https://www.amazon.com/Duck-Bi... [amazon.com]
The scourge of abducktion is quite tragic.
Not A Blimp (Score:5, Informative)
If it were a blimp -- even an unmanned blimp -- and it had fuel, they could just drive it back home.
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Not a Blimp nor Aerostat (Score:2)
As clearly, it was not powered nor tethered....
I think should call it an "blump"
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As clearly, it was not powered nor tethered....
I think should call it an "blump"
And anything else in that family would be "blumpkin"?
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A blimp is a powered craft.
Most sources I can find don't include being powered as a defining characteristic.
An aerostat is a tethered balloon.
That's what it was, but what is it now?
Trial Balloon eh? (Score:5, Funny)
So the military is sending up a trial balloon?
I wonder what the reaction might be..
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One down, 98 to go?
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Didn't see it, hurricane Patricia hitting the area (Score:2)
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And hurricanes coming out of the Pacific, absolutely do not cross the entire continent dropping inches of rain on everything in their path.
Is this article a magnet for stupid or something?
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http://www.wtae.com/weather/wi... [wtae.com]
apparently.
I've seen this movie... (Score:2)
it eats Pittsburgh.
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Danger? (Score:2)
"People are warned to keep a safe distance from the airship and tether as contact with them may present significant danger."
(from the various armed alphabet agents closely following)
Re:Danger? (Score:5, Funny)
"People are warned to keep a safe distance from the airship and tether as contact with them may present significant danger."
RTFA. The airship was at 16000 feet altitude. It's very dangerous to be at that altitude unless you have an airplane, parachute, or other safety device. To be safe, people should keep about 14000 - 15600* feet away.
(* ground elevation in this area varies from around 400 - 2000 feet, iirc)
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"People are warned to keep a safe distance from the airship and tether as contact with them may present significant danger."
(from the various armed alphabet agents closely following)
Besides just general boiler plate warning, it's quite conceivable that somebody coming across it might grab onto the tether. With an upgust they could be 50-100 feet off the ground before they realize how high they are and it's too late to let go. Then you just hope you can hold on longer than it takes for the thing to drift down again. Happened to a couple of zeppelin landing crew in the past as grabbing ahold of tethers and tying the things down is how you land a zeppelin.
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It's already taken out one power line with its mooring cable. Short a high-voltage line, and you'll quite likely burn through it and drop the ends on the ground. If you're in the neighborhood, try to be under the non-hot side.
JLENS is a complete boondoggle (Score:3)
Billions spent and the stupid thing couldn't detect a man in an ultralight headed straight for the Capital, we need to cut our losses and scrap the thing already.
Re:JLENS is a complete boondoggle (Score:5, Funny)
Billions spent and the stupid thing couldn't detect a man in an ultralight headed straight for the Capital, we need to cut our losses and scrap the thing already.
looks like someone did just that.
easy for you to say (Score:2)
i take it you've never lived under the protection of one in a combat zone. not to mention, they become the main target of the locals. better it then I.
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i take it you've never lived under the protection of one in a combat zone.
Is that because JLENS has never been deployed to a combat zone (mostly because it was designed to operate in friendly territory)?
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Systems are built to the requirements specified by the government. It's extremely doubtful that they were looking to detect ultralights, which have a very significantly smaller radar signature, and payload than a cruise missile.
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The 3 year tech demonstration was supposed to aid in the control of the airspace around DC as reported by the Washington Post [washingtonpost.com], it's supposed capabilities include detecting small radar cross section craft like cruise missiles and also manned and unmanned craft (ie large drones) so if they didn't identify something several times the size of a cruise missile in the DC airspace I'd call that a fail.
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How could they not know exactly where it is? (Score:5, Interesting)
How could they lose it? Surely after $2.5B spent on the program, they had enough money to slap a GPS tracker on it.
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Oh, I'm sure they knew where it was the whole time. The question becomes what the fuck you do about it.
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By approaching and circling the aerostat, the F-16 fighter jets are tailing it.
Only on slashdot would someone turn this into a physics problem.
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a receiver is not a transmitter. but for the blimp to fill it's original duty it needed to have transmitters.
they probably knew where it was all the time anyways, just didn't want to bring it down.
Unmanned? (Score:2)
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All you have to do is fight your way through a pair of F18's and bog know what else is chasing it. I don't think anybody is going to claim salvage rights on this puppy.
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I was wondering about this. If it was a drifting, unmanned ship at sea it would become the property of anyone boarding it. I would imagine a drifting, unmanned ship above the sea would be subject to the same laws. So, we need another airship to chase it, and board it.
This could all turn delightfully Girl Genius...
Now on the ground (Score:2)
Sideshow Bob (Score:2)
Does anyone know the current whereabouts of Sideshow Bob?
Military Blimp (Score:2)
Since it's Military... It's gotta be a cheap Blimp, maybe only a few dozen Million dollars. Cheap compared to that new Bomber, which is coming out to $2Billion per plane, at least.
The Pentagon's budget is unlimited, says the GOP, but we can't afford healthcare or social security, or even have a post office.
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Tethered Aerostat Radar System
http://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/... [fas.org]
The real win is the the upkeep, upgrading and new support via different departments, mil or federal gov that just keep the cash flowing over generations of platforms.
The next upgrade for new systems will be long term surveillance above any US city that needs that kind of 24/7 surveillance with a wide selection of civilian/embassy data and optical all wea
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Are you arguing that we shouldn't pay for the military to detect cruise missiles, or just ranting against the military and GOP?
Neat thing about tether cables... (Score:2)
The neat thing about trailing a long tether is that it keeps the airship at a constant height above ground...if it were to drift higher, it would lift more tether off the ground, which would make it heavier - and thus descent. If it drifts lower, more tether rests on the ground, which lightens the airship and allow it to go up again. Net result is an elegant feedback control system that keeps the airship at constant height.
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The problem in this particular isn't so much constant height as it is constant latitude and longitude.
Leaf peeping (Score:2)
Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated (Score:2)
Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System is not JLENS, it's JLACMDENSS.
I never thought I'd live to see this day... (Score:2)
But I can now say, I was there in Baltimore "when the balloon went up”...
Gee and I thought only WWII survivors could ever quote that.
Top Ten List? (Score:2)
Maybe, "top ten military excuses for the blimp breaking free"
10. Blimp? What Blimp?
9. Forgot to use The Club
8. If you love something, set it free
That's all I could think of.
Good.... (Score:2)
Panic over, it's down and on the ground... (Score:2)
Cable cutting, speak of the devil and he doth appe (Score:2)
tech.slashdot.org/story/15/10/26/0114256/russian-presence-near-undersea-cables-concerns-us
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They're just saying it was a missile defense balloon to cover up the fact that it's SKYNET, and it's now sentient.
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Per CNN, the blimp _is_ down. The military did something to force it down [*]
[*] Maybe they told that guy with the shotgun that it was a drone ...
Twitter feed ... (Score:2)
I prefer the other twitter feed for the blimp ... er... aerostat:
https://twitter.com/AberdeenBl... [twitter.com]
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Black Sunday
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Foreign government attack on power infrastructure?
Nahh, just government contractor cost-cutting. I mean, they abbreviated "Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System" as "JLENS" to save ink, who knows what other corners they cut. The tether was probably recycled baling twine.
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Mistakes were made....
Thank you Captain Obvious...
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Actually, If you think about how you might track a cruse missile using Radar, especially one that is designed to follow the terrain at low levels, having a radar system which is up high and stationary makes sense. You'd also be able to track ballistic munitions tracks like mortars and smaller missiles from this vantage point.
Of course, it does afford you the perfect vantage point to track pretty much all moment on the ground, which is something the military needs to be very careful about doing for constitut
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And they would never be testing things at a place called the "Aberdeen Proving Ground"
Your tinfoil hat slipped a bit - better get it centered again.
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And Russian or Chinese submarines.
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Re:Jets scrambled... (Score:5, Funny)
Nah, they're going to escort it to Massachusetts where the Patriots experts in deflation will careful deflate it for them.
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The military should be careful with those things. Some people might think that a military surveillance drone "randomly" getting too close is an act of war.
As opposed to having a cable dragging on the ground, destroying everything in it's path?
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[The blimp] was last seen drifting at 16,000 ft over Pennsylvania. [...] It was trailing approximately 6,700 feet of cable.
So, no, it's not hitting the ground.
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However in the 90s there was a thing called Wirelss Cable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
I worked for a provider. They could get a smallish set (15-20) channels out to places where the cable company would nto run cable, much cheaper than satellite at the time. It was quickly overtaken by true satellite and expanding cable networks with larger and increasingly digital offerings.
Interestingly we were the first high-speed internet provider in our