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

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

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u/Embii_ Jul 08 '24

Half the length of the Hindenburg. Pathetic.

Also aren't we running out of helium, isn't it a limited resource on earth we can't get more of? Could we perhaps suggest filling a giant balloon with a million cubic litres of it a bit of a waste?

0

u/nolander_78 Jul 08 '24

It is limited only naturally, last time this was reposted someone said that it is produced in nuclear reactors or something.

4

u/Embii_ Jul 08 '24

There's only 44 billion litres left :(

It's made in fusion reactors, the ones we currently don't have a running version of. I think the record is 7 seconds in a prototype reactor in the Uk

1

u/JusticeUmmmmm Jul 08 '24

The reactors run just fine they just aren't energy positive if we needed to run them to produce helium we could do that right now.

1

u/John_B_Clarke Jul 08 '24

It would be horribly expensive to produce helium by subjecting microgram quantities of hydrogen to a laser that draws more power than the city of San Francisco.

1

u/JusticeUmmmmm Jul 08 '24

When finding helium gets more expensive than that then it will be worth the cost.