What you are seeing here is the Aeroscraft, and it is essentially a huge airship that is not a blimp. Seriously? That’s not a blimp? Nope. Blimps need all that helium to maintain their shape, but the Aeroscraft has a rigid structure.

Have you seen how blimps need propellers to have some propulsion? Well, the Aeroscraft doesn’t need that, as it has some helium power. This Pelican, as the ship is called, cost $35 million to make, with some funding from NASA. Believe it or not, this actually isn’t the craft Aeros wants to make, but the one they want to make will be 400 feet long. This one is about 266 feet long and 97 feet wide.

Why have one of these rigid airships? To move cargo, of course, and this could possibly move 66 tons or more. You don’t really want to move loads that heavy with planes, do you? Just think of all the runway space that is wasted, but the Aeroscraft could remove the need for a runway.

I say why not? Perhaps this could replace big rigs on the road. Okay, that might be a little too much to hope for.

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