That said, hot air balloons did have some practical applications:
Military Ballooning—Hot air balloons can be used for reconnaissance
Cartography—By providing an aerial view, balloons are useful for more accurate mapmaking
Weather Observation—Balloons can be used to gain knowledge about parts of the atmosphere inaccessible from the ground
Tenses my rationalfic worldbuilder brain. Outputs: so I wonder if we’d have better international transparency cultures (faster surrenders/treaties, and fewer arms-races, and so a much greater chance of solving the alignment problem) as a result of the legacy of a long history of military ballooning for reconnaissance.
Military uses of a hot balloon are more “create a small mountain to climb up” and less “satellite imagery before satellite”. They did not revolutionise warfare at the tactical or operational level, and even less at the strategical level.
Though ballistic weapons were more developed at the time hot air balloons were actually invented, presumably making it more dangerous / unfeasible to fly a balloon deep into enemy territory than if the balloon had been invented earlier
I’m pretty sure no ballistic weapon until well into the 20th century was a significant threat to a balloon flying at more than a few hundred meters above ground.
Tenses my rationalfic worldbuilder brain. Outputs: so I wonder if we’d have better international transparency cultures (faster surrenders/treaties, and fewer arms-races, and so a much greater chance of solving the alignment problem) as a result of the legacy of a long history of military ballooning for reconnaissance.
Military uses of a hot balloon are more “create a small mountain to climb up” and less “satellite imagery before satellite”. They did not revolutionise warfare at the tactical or operational level, and even less at the strategical level.
Though ballistic weapons were more developed at the time hot air balloons were actually invented, presumably making it more dangerous / unfeasible to fly a balloon deep into enemy territory than if the balloon had been invented earlier
I’m pretty sure no ballistic weapon until well into the 20th century was a significant threat to a balloon flying at more than a few hundred meters above ground.