Pathfinder 1 bow quarter view, in Moffett Field Hangar 2 in mid-2022. Courtesy LTA Research. The airship also is safer than its 20th-century predecessors, such as the ill-fated Hindenburg ...

Pathfinder 1, bankrolled by a Google billionaire, is an attempt to revive the airship. A century after terrifying disasters, is it a safe-enough bet?

Pathfinder 1 in Hangar 2 at Moffett Airfield. (Credit: LTA) The rigid Pathfinder 1 uses many new technologies and materials, including titanium hubs and carbon fiber reinforced polymer tubes for ...

Pathfinder 1, backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, marks a bold step in airship innovation. On October 24, 2024, LTA Research announced the airship’s first untethered flight at NASA’s Moffett ...

LTA (which stands for 'lighter than air') plans ... Some "simple maneuvers around Moffett Field" will then be followed by "a series of flights out and over the Bay". Chas Newkey-Burden has been ...

Al Margolis, director of operations at Moffett Field Historical Society and Museum, speaks about the USS Macon at the museum in Mountain View on April 13, 2023. Photo by Magali Gauthier.