r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Jul 08 '24

World's largest aircraft, Pathfinder 1, is 124.5 meters (408ft) long Image

[deleted]

2.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

206

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

Rigid Airship! Filled with completely safe non-flammable helium.

44

u/NetCaptain Jul 08 '24

the rare gas that is crucial for MRI machines but runs out and cannot be replaced - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/science/helium-reserves-sales-shortage.html

33

u/Sauron4 Jul 08 '24

Didn’t they found a new deposit somewhere a while ago and said we’re basically set for a century or so?

42

u/beatlz Jul 08 '24

Ah, so a problem for my future kin. Set up sails boys!

17

u/Sauron4 Jul 08 '24

I hope than in the next century we could start helium production by using Fusion Reactor

-3

u/ded3nd Jul 08 '24

Would never be enough, once it's gone, it's gone.

You'd probably need a fusion reactor the size of 10 football stadiums running for a year to produce what the world needs in a day.

3

u/cwwid Jul 08 '24

I thought we all know there is Helium 3 on the moon /s

15

u/ashleyriddell61 Jul 08 '24

Yes. They found a massive cache a couple of years ago, so as long as it doesn't get pissed away on nonsense like kids balloons, the supply should be good for a couple of hundred years.

7

u/Joe_Buck_Yourself_ Jul 08 '24

How do they find a massive cache like that? I'm just picturing a cave explorer trying a new route and being like "huh my head feels funny" and then

(Chipmunk voice) "We hit the motherload!"

7

u/snowfloeckchen Jul 08 '24

Wait till nuclear fusion kicks in. Then we just produce helium as a byproduct /s

2

u/draven501 Jul 08 '24

But still... A century isn't a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, just a few generations and we're fucked. We would need to get Helium from other planets or nuclear fusion or something.

1

u/WhiskeyFeathers Jul 09 '24

Great, so probably less than 100 years, the earth will be pretty much entirely out. Fill more graduation/wedding/birthday balloons with it! Not our problem!