Qatar:What will they think of next?

As you may have heard, there is some controversy surrounding Qatar being chosen as the host country of the 2022 World Cup. Part of their bid package was a promise to air condition the nine new soccer stadiums they will build, despite the fact that the stadiums will be open-air. This will be quite a challenge as Qatar summer temperatures reach upwards of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The latest twist in this story is the announcement of a new project - the Qataris plan to build an a mechanical "cloud", depicted below.

The concept is to have the "cloud" hover above the soccer-loving crowds and deflect direct and indirect sun rays, thus, lowering the temperatures at the open air stadiums. The "cloud" will move by remote control, be made of light carbonic materials, and run on solar-power.

The project is being headed up by the school of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Qatar University and will be executed in collaboration with Qatar Science and Technology Park. The current project budget is $500,000, however, it is hoped that the initial high cost will be offset by the future launch of similar models with commercial applications. Imagine the cloud hovering above beaches with advertisement campaigns or having your own private cell-phone controlled "cloud" shielding you car as it is parked on a hot summer day!

Photo Credit: Peninsula News Paper

France: The Aldebaran Project

France's space agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) has a project in the works which may revolutionize the way satellites are launched. Instead of using a launching pad, they hope to make an 'aviation turducken' - a satellite, housed in a rocket, that is mounted to the undercarriage of a Rafale fighter jet. Check out this video, which depicts the proposed launching process (it gets interesting around the 1:56 mark).

While this is pretty forward thinking, the Chinese and Americans have similar projects underway as well. Understandably so, as coordinating a satellite - rocket launch currently takes up to six months or more. The prospect of launching a satellite from a jet could potentially reduce project schedules to days or maybe even hours. More importantly, this ensures that you can launch satellites critical to military operations even if your launching pads have been destroyed. The French rocket, the Aldebaran, however, takes it a step further than everyone else, as the Rafale jet would be able to launch these missions from aircraft carriers. Testing on the Aldebaran rocket is scheduled to begin in 2013.