Vern ..earlier I'm afraid I misinterpreted your intention in saying that the strat wasn't as far along as it needed to be for float testing. I thought you were discrediting the AP story but it appears you were advocating that delays are the inevitable component of the process of aeronautical development and therefore expected; whether or not accepted by us, the observers. Thanks for your valuable insight, as well as your amazing stories.
The tethered Russian ship is intriguing. It seems to be on the border of being so far 'out there' that I tend toward suspecting this may be another of your allegorical 'Norton' type stories. But assuming that is not the case, what would be the energy transfer protocal for this system; in other words is high voltage ac, like a power line? The wires would have to be lightweight and the energy load significant, no? Do you have any of those kind of details?
Again, thanks for posting, it is great stuff.