[757labs] HackerSpaces in Space 2011

[Dave]

If you're going to separate hydrogen and oxygen and all the work you're
going to need to put in, you might as well just liquefy it and build rocket
engines.

But I think we should have a side competition. "Build the best bottle rocket
launcher." So while the hydrogen balloon launches, we can all try to shoot
it out of the sky. I think a barrage of rockets coming towards it would
produce some pretty cool photos as well.

On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 3:09 PM, Adam Crosby <adam at uptill3.com> wrote:

> 100cuft is enough to cause quite a spectacular boom and fire.  We used to
> shoot bottle rockets (don't ask) at 50gal trash bags full of acetylene and
> anchored with a rope (acetylene is lighter than air, so the trash bag
> floats).  You could hear the explosion miles away, and definitely feel it a
> few hundred feet away behind a steel barrier :)
>
> PS: why in the world would we make our own hydrogen and then have to figure
> out a way to both capture it and compress it for storage, rather than just
> pay for some?  It's reaaaaaly cheap (so cheap even Ethan suggested it!).
>
> --
> Adam
>
>
> On Oct 19, 2011, at 2:45 PM, Steve Nelson wrote:
>
> By the way... from what I can tell from the intertubes... The Hidenburg
> held 7 MILLLLLLION cubic feet of hydrogen. Our balloon will probably have,
> at most, 100 cubic feet. Even if this thing does explode, it certainly won't
> be very spectacular. Maybe a singed eyebrow. If we take the necessary
> precautions, like making the hydrogen outside, wear appropriate safety gear
> and you know... don't smoke, we'll be fine.
>
> One of the MAKE magazines in the lab has a two stage HHO rocket made out of
> 2 liter bottles.
>
> Steve
>
> On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Nathan McGuirt <nathan at meltphace.org>wrote:
>
>> THIS IS DANGEROUS.
>> > > How much cheaper is hydrogen to buy than helium? You know... we could
>> make our own hydrogen. I don't know how you compress it and make it safe,
>> but all it takes to make it is stick an anode and cathode in a bowl of
>> water. Hydrogen and oxygen will bubble off.
>> Do not attempt that in the lab or within 100 yards of anywhere I might be
>> at the time, that's an explosion risk. Hydrogen is combustible in very small
>> concentrations with air, it only takes a 4% concentration of hydrogen.
>> You're going to try to concentrate a bunch of hydrogen and oxygen in an
>> environment where you're conducting electrolysis and then somehow separate
>> them?
>>
>> Lead acid batteries produce an amount of hydrogen when they're
>> overcharged. If you ask around it's pretty easy to find a mechanic that has
>> a story about a charging battery causing an explosion or fire if it's not
>> ventilated properly.
>>
>>
>> Nathan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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