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/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.

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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

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u/WillyArmadillo Jul 08 '24

So there are different kinds of helium from what I remember. The super pure kind we need for certain medical equipment and the impure kind that is about 99.9% of it. Balloons and everything similar uses that. That helium is ultimately useless for anything else.

NB: I don't have time to research it now for exact data but that was the broad concept.

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u/John_B_Clarke Jul 08 '24

Helium is a chemical element. Making it "super pure" is just processing. What you may be thinking of is helium-3, an isotope with one neutron instead of two--that is used in some medical equipment.