Thursday, July 28, 2011
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
A remote-controlled, unmanned reconnaissance blimp launched from Ohio by defense contractor Lockheed Martin was brought down Wednesday in a controlled descent in the woods of southwestern Pennsylvania after it was unable to climb to the desired altitude.
The HALE-D blimp was designed to float above the jet stream at 60,000 feet and can be used for reconnaissance, intelligence and other purposes often accomplished by satellites, but at lower cost. The blimp was being tested as a communications-relay device as part of a contract Lockheed Martin has with the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., Lockheed spokesman Keith Little told The Associated Press.
The blimp got to 32,000 feet but couldn’t climb higher, so controllers in Akron decided to bring it down with a “controlled descent” in a sparsely populated area, some heavy woods near New Freeport, about 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
The ship is 270 feet long, 70 feet in diameter and filled with helium and air, which were released gradually to bring the ship to Earth.
“There is no way for the airship to come down with it all filled,” Little said. “That’s how we bring it down.”
The ship was launched from a former Goodyear blimp air dock in Akron that Lockheed bought years ago.