Perhaps the salesperson was paid on commission, and helium would result in a much more profitable sale for them.
The amount of gas produced in a high school chemistry lab compared to a full tank is just silly. To compare a high school lab environment with safety equipment and assuming a trained teacher to a couple of knuckleheads with no safety training or equipment doing a balloon launch in a very drought striken part of the state is so not even close to the same.
But thanks for trying to make it seem so much less dangerous than what it is
Well yeah, but inert gas doesn’t really help you accelerate massive objects to orbital velocity. It is good for taking up space in the tanks as you burn the propellant though.
Edit: nevermind, should probably understand the context of the discussion before joining it.
I dunno, some inert gases can be dangerous. You don't want to inhale an inert gas that's heavier than air.
Because non-flammable, inert gases aren't that useful for pushing things into space. The window of discussion here (in the broader sense, obv) is inherently explosive.
Yes, there's an important safety aspect here but NASA aren't taking advice from HN threads.
I happen to agree with GP. While hydrogen provides certain challenges, the human race has to embrace it. It's possibly the only workaround for a near-time methane shortage, especially as it can be generated locally (and cheaply) via PV. A much cheaper "battery" than Li-based batteries, and possibly a fuel for CCGT power stations to run from (blended and not).
it was tale of how me personally had a near experience using hydrogen, but was convinced that might just be a bad idea. the fact that a NASA rocket is experiencing an issue with hydrogen is what prompted me to share the story. everyone else seeems to think i'm launching rockets with hydrogen as a fuel source.
Compare on just the scale of a few milligrams: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_RKdWYqgu3Y
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/fired-up-engine...
With basic safety precautions (ventilation and making sure there are no ignition sources in the vicinity) I'd be happy to let my kids play with a tank full of hydrogen.
The dangers of hydrogen are basically "oops I breathed so much hydrogen that I got no oxygen for several minutes" or "oops I accidentally ignited it", both of which are easily avoided by basic safety precautions. In the context of filling a high altitude balloon that started this thread, asphyxiation is easily avoided by doing it outside, and ignition sources can be eliminated with a little care.
This kind of fear-mongering--"could explode just because you looked at it funny" etc.--is irresponsible.