Debswana - Part 2, the Zepplin

Earlier in this BLOG we talked about Thom's trip to the Jaweng diamond mine. Well, we actually saved the best for last. After the visit to the diamond mine and going to lunch there was a brief stop at the airport in Jwaneng to visit the Debswana Zepplin. That's right! It's a zepplin not a blimp.

At first Thom was a bit under-whelmed because we were stading several hundred yards away as you see in the picture to the right. Well after finally wrangling with the trying to find someone from the ground crew we were told that we could walk over to the zepplin.

The zepplin is being leased to conduct geological surveys looking for additional diamond (and other geological) deposits. And while the technology is a trade secret it pretty much has to do with directing energy into the ground and then reading reflections of the energy. They also have a lot of problems using it during the summer because it is so hot and the altitude is so high. It was Thom's understanding that during the summer months they can only use it at night.

Thom with Zepplin in background

What you can't see in the picture is the entire time the zepplin is mored there is a pilot in the cab making sure that nothing crazy happens because of the winds.

This is the mooring vehicle. Not only is this what reels the zepplin in and keeps it moored, it also adjusts the amount of helium in the zepplin. Because during the day the helium heats up and expands som of the helium must be removed so that the zepplin doesn't "pop".

Remember we pointed out that there is a pilot on board all the time. Well this is why. A huge wind whipped up from behind and lifted the tail of the zepplin almost straight up. So it was up to the pilot to ride it out and make sure that the zepplin returned back down without anything getting broken.