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Why not hydrogen instead of helium? It's much cheaper and lighter.
by graz 4y ago
Why not hydrogen instead of helium? It's much cheaper and lighter.
- cmeacham98 4y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster In all seriousness, I have no idea.
- graz 4y agoThis is an unmanned device so it doesn't have the same safety concern. Also at the cruising altitude there is so little oxygen it's probably as safe as helium at that altitude.
- cmeacham98 4y agoSorry, maybe it wasn't obvious enough the first part of my comment was intended as a joke?
- pard68 4y agoIf I recall rightly, hydrogen leaks out of the balloon so fast because of the change in pressure at high altitudes. Not a problem at lower ones, but way up I seem to recall that it is.
- ComputerGuru 4y agoFunny because helium leaks out faster than hydrogen under regular conditions, being smaller in practice.
- superkuh 4y agoMethane has a decent amount of lift, it's relatively cheap, and it stays in the envelope.
- hazbot 4y agoIn Australia we use hydrogen in our weather balloons. It’s essentially a safety/cost trade-off.