Originally posted by ShorterThanJesus:
Gives a whole new meaning to the exploding battery worries... Just wait till your camera goes Hindenburg on ya. |
You know, most of the flames you see in that famous film are not the hydrogen "exploding" but rather the ultra-thin aluminum skin burning. As bad as the crash looks, a lot of people (61 of 97) on the Hindenberg survived.
Here's some more info from The Congressional Record:
THE TRUE STORY OF HYDROGEN AND THE `HINDENBURG' DISASTER
(Senate - October 06, 1998)
[Page: S11631]
Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, for many years I have spoken of the promise of hydrogen energy as our best hope for an environmentally safe sustainable energy future. My vision, and the vision of many of our top scientists is simple. Hydrogen, which is produced by renewable energy with absolutely no pollution and no resource depletion of any kind, will prove a truly sustainable energy option.
I recognize that hydrogen is not yet a form of energy widely known to the American public. In fact, hydrogen has an unfortunate association. I would like to spend a few minutes dispelling one unfortunate myth of hydrogen energy.
Mr. President, mention the word `hydrogen' and many people remember the Hindenburg--the dirigible that caught fire back in May of 1937, killing 36 of the 97 people on board. Now, thanks to the scientific sleuthing of Addison Bain, a retired NASA scientist with 30 years experience with hydrogen, we can state with a fair degree of certainty that the Hindenburg would have caught fire even without any hydrogen on board.
This detective story was reported in a recent issue of Popular Science. I ask that the Popular Science article be printed in the Congressional Record at the conclusion of my remarks.
Addison Bain collected actual samples from the Hindenburg--the cloth bags that contained the hydrogen--which were saved as souvenirs by the crowd awaiting the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. When these samples were analyzed by modern techniques, Bain discovered that the bags had been coated with cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate--both flammable materials. Furthermore, the cellulose material was impregnated with aluminum flakes to reflect sunlight, and aluminum powder is used in rocket fuel. Essentially the outside of the Hindenburg was coated with rocket fuel!
Addison now believes that the Hindenburg probably caught fire from an electrical discharge igniting the cellulose-coated gas bags. Remember, the ship docked at Lakehurst with electrical storms in the area, which was against regulations. |
