can you float a balloon to space?

Question

If you filled a balloon with enough helium, would it eventually pass right through our atmosphere and into space?

Answer 1

No. In order to rise, it has to be less dense than the surrounding medium. This would be impossible against the vacuum of space. It could make it high in the atmosphere, but there would be a level where it couldn't go any higher.

Answer 2

No, eventually the buoyancy provided by the helium being lighter than air would not be greater than the weight of the balloon as the air became less dense. The huge very thin high rise balloons start off with a bubble of helium at the top that is sufficient to lift their load in the dense atmosphere and as they rise they expand to a huge ball shape containing helium at reduced density from which the load hangs, but although they get up to 120,000+ feet and are above 98% of the atmosphere, they are not in space.
"ability to fly payloads approaching 900–1000 kg to altitudes in excess of 45 km using traditional zero-pressure designs. A zero-pressure balloon of nearly 1.7 million cubic meters (60 million cubic feet) volume was developed for NASA and launched in Summer 2002. This was the largest balloon ever successfully flown, reaching an altitude of 49 km. "
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V3S-4BMJV2X-J&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=fbb8b5fa0ee52b89c9815f8c80104b22
It is possible to PUT a balloon in space and inflate it with a tiny amount of air, we did it with the ECHO satellite a couple of decades ago with the idea of bouncing signals off of it and measuring the small air drag up there.

Answer 3

Because space is a vacuum there is no pressure. The pressure created by the air inside the balloon only holds it's shape because we also have air pressure on earth. In space the balloon would grow until the rubber burst. But this would happen in a fraction of a second. Try looking on YouTube for this. But before it popped the radiation would vaporise one size of the balloon and freeze the other. Either way it will expand and pop. Hypothetical answer: ANYTHING FLOATS IN SPACE BECAUSE THERE IS NO GRAVITY TO PULL IT DOWN.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, the best you could do is have the baloon bobbing on top of the atmosphere like a ship on water. It would need to be hydrogen in order to do this, as that is the lightest gas of all. It being dangerous, Helium would be the gas of choice.

The world record skydive was from a balloon at 100k feet. Joseph Kittinger broke several records in his 3 jumps with project Excelsior. Highest skydive, highest G forces (he went into a spin on his first jump that put his extremeties at 22g forces, it's estimated), and his fall was actually faster than the speed of sound - another record.

Even so, no balloon could ever get into space itself. They have been suggested as good launching platforms for space planes, though, since they would save lots of energy.

Answer 5

I heard that there's a time when the balloon is in the atmposphere, it would blow up because of pressure. I really don't understand what that meant though.

Answer 6

No. the balloon will eventually pop in vacuum.

Answer 7

I'm thinking no... atmospheric pressure will eventual cause it to pop is what I think.
Not to mention that birds might think it's food and eat it... poor birds :(

Answer 8

no the pressure will cause to pop
:/
and it wont even get that close to space either

Answer 9

no.. whatever light gas you use.. it would only go as high as that element is ... just float on top of that layer like a boat...

Answer 10

which type of baloon are u talking abt?