Geostationary Banana Over Texas

Geostationary Banana Over Texas

The Geostationary Banana Over Texas project was a planned banana-shaped airship to be launched over the state of Texas in August of 2008.

Update

According to the website for the project, the project has been terminated for lack of funding, after the completion of all feasibility and technical studies. This had been anticipated in a June 20, 2008 article published in "Le Journal de Montreal" [ [http://www2.canoe.com/infos/quebeccanada/archives/2008/06/20080620-082301.html "Une banane volante indigeste", Journal de Montréal, June 20, 2008] ] . According to the same article, the termination occurred after the project received public funding (some of it conditional) from the Canada and Quebec Arts Councils, in the amounts of 95,000 $CAN and $52,320 $CAN.

The project had also raised conditional subscritions of $12,018 through "The Point" [ [http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/art-for-the-21st-century-geostationary-banana-over-texas The Point: Geostationary Banana Over Texas] ] , a website where individuals can pledge funds to be paid only if the subscription target is reached (in this case, $1.5 million).

Overview

The airship, approximately 1,000 feet long, will be launched from Mexico en route over the entire state of Texas until it disintegrates near Louisiana [The Houston Chronicle, Jan. 7th, 2006; Page B3; paragraph 4] .

Public artist Cesar Saez, from Quebec, Canada, created the project, hoping the art will “add humor to the Texas sky” [The Houston Chronicle; Page B3, paragraph 3. Last assessed January 7th, 2007] . The helium-filled balloon will be the largest airship in history, will be constructed entirely out of bamboo and paper, and will run on 19th-century technology. The banana will float 30-50 km in the air [http://www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com/en.html Banana project website, "About The Project".] and will cost about US$1,500,000.

The project has already received at least $65,000 Canadian dollars (approx. $55,000 US) from the Canadian Federal Government and Quebec Province, sparking a little controversy. [ [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070110/giant_banana_070110/20070110 CTV.ca | Artist hopes to float giant banana over Texas ] ] In addition, donations have been accepted by many arts and science organizations. Overall, the project has a current total of $750,000 pledged support.

Criticism

Many US federal offices have severely criticized the project, with one federal employee stating that “you can't put something over the United States without checking the agencies and organizations”. [The FAA, for the Houston Chronicle] The Federal Aviation Administration is concerned over the safety of the project, worrying about violation of airspace and legal mattersFact|date=February 2007. However, the planned altitude is not subject to such regulations.

Scientists also argue over winds in the stratosphere, commenting that the winds would steer the banana away from Texas, instead landing it over the Gulf of Mexico. Also, many argue that the banana will be too small to be viewable from the altitude, and at the level of atmosphere, atmospheric pressure could burst the shipFact|date=March 2008 without 21st century technology. There is still strong opposition between the two possibilities, and no organization has confirmed victory in the project.

References

External links

* [http://www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com/en.html Main Website (English)]
* [http://www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com/es.html Main Website (Spanish)]
* [http://www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com/fr.html Main Website (French)]
* [http://www.cesarsaez.com/English/CESAR_SAEZ.html Cesar Saez page (English)]


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