“diffuse at the same rate as hydrogen.”
Advantage hydrogen.
Russel Rhodes has been employed for more than fifty years
at Kennedy Space Center. During this time, he has been engaged
in the design, development, testing, and operation of ballistic
missiles and space transportation systems, and has specialized
experience in space vehicle propellant loading, cryogenic,
hydraulics, high-pressure gases, and other propulsion systems.
He says:
August 30, 1963. We were ready to fuel the Saturn I block II vehicle, our first configuration with a liquid-hydrogen-and-oxygenpowered second stage. The stage had six RL-10 engines, and the launch complex to support it contained a 125,000-gallon dewar for storing liquid hydrogen about 600 ft. from the launchpad.
For additional safety, we had two ponds where hydrogen that was vented during preparation could be safely burned off. We began filling the transfer line and chilling the stage
tank while venting hydrogen down to its burn pond.
Everything seemed to be working fine when Al Zeiler, who was watching the process through a periscope (we had very little closed circuit television in those days), told us we’d had an explosion at the pad. Inside the blockhouse, we hadn’t heard a thing, but Al reported seeing steel trench covers, which weighed about 300 lbs. each, flying several hundred feet in the air.
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/513855main_ASK_41s_explosive.pdf
And these guys know how to handle it. Car accident, mix hydrogen with air, and cause a spark? They won’t find all the pieces of the body. And a car accident takes it back to the basics.
wy69