Manned ULDBs

Something that I think about quite a lot is manned ULDBs (Ultra Long Duration Balloons) above is a very primitive one that I made with CAD. But essentially my concept for them would be to take an existing ULDB then add a manned gondola to it. This is not too unheard of, but hasn't been done since project Stargazer in 1962, when Joseph Kittinger and William C. White did just that for 18 hours at 80,000ft making astronomical observations.

Modern ULDBs can carry payloads that weigh 8000lbs to 100,000ft for over 100 days. I think it would be interesting to potentially have an aeronaut spent months on such a balloon working on experiments. The above ULDB that I designed would have room for a crew and then many experiment racks that could be bought by organizations wishing to run experiments in the near space environment.

An advantage to using a ULDB is that you can get a lot of research benefits of the near space environment while also being able to return your payload intact. Potentially by having a sort of ride share ULDB it could allow organizations that don't have millions to spend on a ULDB to pay a fraction of the cost. By having a crew it could also open the window to human operated experiments in the near space environment.

The above ULDB gondola that I made in CAD is very likely way to large and would require a new generation of ULDBs. But a smaller one could be made with potentially a design that resembles Bertrand Picard's Breitling orbiter gondola. If I had the means I would most certainly like to build such a gondola and launch myself in it and coast on the edge space for 100 days. Such a mission would also give me the title of longest manned flight in the atmosphere which I think would be a pretty cool title to have.

If I were going down this route I would also see if there is a demand for rideshare ULDB payloads then use my long duration mission as a stepping stone project in a company that I would then focus on manned rideshare payloads or maybe just plain rideshare payloads. If it turns out there is not demand I would still like to do my manned ULDB because I feel humans need to explore and do unique things that inspire.