SA looks for high–tech airships

Washington, January 3: SA has called for designs of an airship that can fly at altitudes higher than the currrent 65,000–foot limit for weather balloons and for longer than the existing ones. Weather balloons can soar to that height but are difficult to control and vulnerable to winds. Such airships could aid scientists in research on astronomy and climate change and even be more capable than weather balloons. An airship could carry telescopes into the stratosphere to observe stars and other celestial bodies. (IANS)