Big problems call for big responses, and while armchair pundits and denizens of the blogosphere pick apart the government response to the BP oil spill, the Navy is bringing out the big guns to help with the containment effort. The Navy’s massive MZ-3A Airship is expected to arrive in the Gulf sometime today (or perhaps a bit later — airships travel slowly and are subject to the whims of the weather) to support and coordinate skimming efforts and keep an eye out for injured animals along the coastline.
The airship — the first to enter the Gulf cleanup effort — began making its way toward the spill site from Yuma, Ariz., last month and will operate form a mooring near Mobile Bay, Ala. A handful of sensors are being considered for use aboard the airship, including the electro-optical, infrared and radar sensors already used on some support aircraft.
Full story: Navy Sending MZ-3A Airship to Gulf for Cleanup Effort -Popular Science