Vacuum airships are an interesting concept but have not advantage compared to gas airships in practice.
Vacuum airships are an interesting concept but have not advantage compared to gas airships in practice.
Hook up a vacuum pump to a flask. It isn't going to rise as the air is pumped out. Edison's light bulbs did not float.
That was my original question: is it technically feasible to make such a chamber from light enough materials (my first guess would be some carbon tubes supporting a carbon fiber tarp or something like that.
> Edison's light bulbs did not float.
One could argue that it was too small (of course I imagine making a massive lightbulb would not make for a good solid structure, also glass is heavy). A hot air balloon does not float either if you lest it too much.