Tech billionaire and Google co-founder Sergey Brin's massive experimental airship, the Pathfinder 1, drew attention over San Francisco this week after residents spotted the giant craft cruising above the city, SFGate reported.
The gleaming, helium-filled aircraft has been jokingly likened by aviation watchers to "a Goodyear blimp on steroids," but it isn't actually a blimp at all.
Unlike traditional blimps, which have no internal framework, Pathfinder 1 is a fully rigid airship — stretching roughly 400 feet and constructed from advanced materials including titanium, aluminum, and carbon fiber.
Brin's company, LTA Research, has been developing the craft for several years. Pathfinder 1 made earlier launches in 2023 and 2024, but it wasn't until May that the prototype finally ventured out of Moffett Field for its first flight over the wider Bay Area.
Onlookers have since spotted it periodically gliding above the region. The company's smaller A-60 aircraft, used to train pilots as Pathfinder 1 testing ramps up, has also been seen flying around Silicon Valley.
Built in partnership with Zeppelin, the Pathfinder 1 is designed to endure winds up to 80 mph. Pilots control the airship through a modern "fly-by-wire" system that merges sensor data with joystick inputs from the gondola suspended beneath the craft.
Thirteen giant helium cells provide lift, while a dozen propulsion motors steer and stabilize the airship as it moves through the air.
LTA Research says the project is part of a broader effort to revive and modernize airship technology — pursuing cleaner, more energy-efficient ways to transport cargo and perform humanitarian missions.
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