Airships are essentially rigid, steerable balloons that fly because they’re filled with a lighter-than-air gas. The Hindenburg is probably the most well-known example of an — and also the most-well known example of why filling them with flammable hydrogen is dangerous.
Brin’s plan is to fill hiss with non-flammable helium and then use them to transport tons of cargo hundreds of miles efficiently and cleanly. He also hopes to use them for humanitarian missions, delivering supplies and personnel to places that are hard to access by road.
The Pathfinder-1: In 2015, Brin founded a startup, LTA Research, to help him reach this goal, and the team came up with the Pathfinder-1, a 400-foot-long prototype with electric motors, a carbon-fiber skeleton, and an ultra-light synthetic cover.
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