Random Thought Thread

Richard338 said:
Neat stuff. So you're the one bankrupting chemistry departments! (cost of helium)
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We were that year! 😬 Heated Helium is a much better acoustic match to the real rocket plumes vs. high-pressure air. You can’t burn real rocket motors in most wind tunnels, so we did the next best thing. It was extremely expensive… and the facility piping had to all be modified and a special heater brought in from a different NASA facility halfway across the country. It was something else!!! (It’s touched on a bit in the AIAA tech paper I linked.)

SharpBits said:
Helium isn’t renewable, so that doesn’t seem like the wisest use of the gas. Party balloons being the absolute most stupid way to waste it, of course.
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Most people do not realize this. Yeah, not the best use of it, but not the worst either (as you pointed out). It’s not renewable in the traditional sense, but the Earth is constantly making more all the time through radioactive decay. We’re using it a LOT faster than it’s being produced, however.
 
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