DavidElderkin t1_j6kr613 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 12:43 AM

Reply to comment by curahee5656 in TIL In the 60s/60s NASA would use brooms to detect flames from Hydrogen leaks as they were odorless & colorless. by Wandering_Lights

Liquid Oxygen can turn ordinary asphalt into a contact explosive. There are tales of fire trucks racing to the scene of a LOX spill and having their wheels blown off by the explosions.

Aethelon t1_j6ltiju wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:59 AM

Is it because asphalt is like 44% carbon and thus acts as a fuel? So when combined with an oxidiser..