4 ms·

Isn't the main problem with hydrogen its flammability? Or is that something that is exaggerated?

• rob74 3y ago
  According to the Wikipedia article, even using helium only reduces the lift by 14%...
  • lsaferite 3y ago
    Isn't the objective to have livable space though? If the space is filled with helium or hydrogen then you cannot live in the space.
    • WithinReason 3y ago
      Filling it with a vacuum however...
      • lsaferite 3y ago
        Haha. Sorry, I was reading some of the links posted here where they talked about using slightly warmer air and must have gotten lost.
• lesuorac 3y ago
  It's exaggerated. The problem with hydrogen is that it was involved in a very public accident (the Hindenburg). However, only 1/3 of the people on it died and they did so on the ground because they couldn't escape from the fire [1]. The flammability of hydrogen can be mitigated just as the flammability of gasoline can be mitigated. Also keep in mind the Ford Pinto is from 1970 while the Hindenburg was from 1930 and the Pinto's failure mode was _not unique_ to the Pinto; it was endemic of car designs of the time (doesn't mean the Pinto doing that design was smart, its just that cars were literally unsafe in any accident). Obviously in 50 years we've come a long way with gasoline safety; I expect we could make a significantly safer blimp nearly 100 years after the Hindenburg. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster