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Old 06-24-2013, 03:39 PM   #13
vicky_molokh
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Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
Default Re: Reconciling Martian and Terran environmental needs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Yes, the thing about neutral gases is that they absorb heat from a reaction and thus prevent a self-sustaining flame when one would occur in the pure gas. I don't have exact numbers, though; it's just 'more dangerous'.
Something to consider. Though the NASA numbers don't seem to look very different from the ones I'm seeing. Gotta invest in newer fire-extinguishing systems, I guess.

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Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
It also tends to mean that you have supplies of compressed or liquid pure oxygen sitting around, which is most certainly a fire hazard.
I'm afraid there's not much way around that one.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Unlike nitrogen, CO2 is quite significantly soluble in water, and forms a weak acid when doing so; something adapted to a certain level of blood acidity would probably notice its absence. Humans are used to about 0.3 mbar of CO2, and more than about 1 bar is unsafe long term.
Hmm, thanks for pointing that out. I wonder if they have Filter Lungs like Adraste do (which is probably a really weird solution, but not much more roundabout than some of the other stuff we've found).
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