Use helium balloons or similar aerostats designed to carry passengers above the clouds to make the observation of celestial bodies possible on cloudy nights.
On cloudy nights observatories that are located at relatively low altitudes can't provide stargazing events and users who book those in advance get them canceled and have to come another time.
Some important, rare, and short-lived celestial events, like comet passings, moon eclipses, planets or stars being more brightly visible, etc. might be completely missed due to cloudy weather. Like the recent Earth and Mars alignment on December 8th - it was cloudy where I live so I missed it. This inspired the idea.
Just the rising above the clouds at night part alone should be an amazing experience, more impressive than seeing the sun above the clouds on a cloudy day, I suppose. When you see this during the airplane flight the experience is limited because you only have a tiny window to look out from and are sitting in an enclosed space. Doing this with a passenger balloon the process would be slower and the view way more spherical and direct.
Depending on a geographical location, weather conditions, season of the year, and other factors, this might be a relatively inexpensive and convenient service.
Commercial balloon flights to the stratosphere are on the rise now. One American company is offering a seat on their upcoming flight for 50,000 $, which is comparably affordable. However, to use balloons just to rise above the clouds would be way easier to execute and therefore should be way, way cheaper.
The observatory establishes infrastructure to carry passengers above the clouds which involves a reusable aerostat or a few of those. Whenever the weather is cloudy but still favorable enough for the flight, they offer a balloon flight above the clouds to perform the observation up there. The gear, like telescopes and other means required for a smooth observatory experience, is carried in the passenger car. One or a few staff members fly together to ensure safety and guide the observation.
Clouds stay at a height between 2 and 7 km above the ground on average. So the passenger-carrying aerostat would have to rise to those heights. This comes with a number of following challenges - a drop in oxygen levels, temperature drop, increased wind speed, reduced atmospheric pressure.
I believe in conditions where clouds are at low heights (2-4 km) aerostats with open passenger cars can be used, similar to hot air balloon baskets. The main inconvenience here would be the humidity while moving through clouds, a drop in temperature (-6.5 °C for 1 km), and an increase in wind speed. However, with proper clothing, it seems doable.
Having a closed passenger car similar to those used in stratospheric balloon flights brings the benefit of regulated microclimate and oxygen levels, but this would increase the cost of the aerostat and hence increase the price of the flight. A closed car also limits the view of the sky and there's no direct contact with the surrounding atmosphere, in other words, lack of experience of being under an open sky. However, a closed car with large windows would, perhaps, be the best option when rising to greater heights.
A good third option would be to have a passenger car with a transparent slide-off roof which would be removed in favorable conditions and closed when moving through the clouds and at great heights or harsh weather conditions.
Povilas S Dec 16, 2022
Please leave the feedback on this idea
Please leave the feedback on this idea