this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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48 seconds. I predict a glut of helium. balloons for everyone

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Alright, did some research, first off you're wrong about this being the reason even if this was a plausible reason. The real reason is the ash and heat divertors failed.

Second, you don't even need liquid helium for super conduction. Here's a few closed loop helium gas coolers that get to 10 kelvin. They need to be refilled on the scale of years, not from a single test.

https://www.arscryo.com/closed-cycle-cryocoolers https://stirlingcryogenics.com/products/closed-loop-helium-gas-cooling-system/

I get you care deeply about helium loss but this is the last thing you should be accidentally spreading misinformation about. This process literally creates more helium then it uses.