Importance

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Abstract

A stratospheric airship capable of substantially and smoothly varying the volume of a buoyant gas is provided so as to allow the airship to stably ascend into the stratosphere and keep a station therein. A stratospheric airship includes a gas envelope defined by a ship hull, the gas envelope being divided by a diaphragm into a buoyant gas compartment containing a buoyant gas and an air compartment containing air, the stratospheric airship being allowed to ascend by varying the volume ratio between the buoyant gas and the air, wherein the periphery of the diaphragm is coupled to the ship hull generally at the midpoint along the vertical dimension thereof, and a central portion of the diaphragm is coupled to a suspension chord whose upper and lower ends are coupled respectively to the upper and lower surfaces of the ship hull. The sloshing phenomenon of the diaphragm is suppressed, whereby the change in the shape thereof is balanced, and thus there is no asymmetric distribution of the buoyant gas. Therefore, it is possible to smoothly change the volume ratio between the buoyant gas and the air in the air compartment, thereby allowing the stratospheric airship to stably ascend into the stratosphere and keep a station therein.

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First Claim