Metastable He-IV-A

[lajoswinkler]

He*-He particle would cling to other He*-He particles by some kind of Van der Waals force. It would basically be something similar, although heavier than hydrogen.

Let's ignore the stability of these particles for a moment - there is no way the system made of those particles would melt or sublime above cryogenic temperatures. It's just absurd.

[MrZayas1]

This sounds like an interesting concept but it might be kind of improbable due to the lack of helium. I honestly believe that we have Alvin and the Chipmunks to blame for our shortage on helium...

[K^2]

He*-He particle would cling to other He*-He particles by some kind of Van der Waals force. It would basically be something similar, although heavier than hydrogen.

Let's ignore the stability of these particles for a moment - there is no way the system made of those particles would melt or sublime above cryogenic temperatures. It's just absurd.

You can't have the He*-He molecules. Like I've mentioned before, any covalent bond with He* state is going to destroy the state. Instead, what you'll have is a bunch of He* atoms that are slightly larger than Lithium and about as reactive, and a bunch of He atoms that don't want to react with anything. And the only way to get a stable solid out of it is to use the VdW forces between them to make an FCC lattice.

Hrm. So if I lit a hypothetical He* booster on the ground, I get a plume of ozone and superhot helium plasma? What's the lethal radius around the plume?

Pretty much the same as you'd get from a normal rocket of similar thrust. The only added danger is that it will be a strong UV source, so looking at a launch directly, without protective goggles, might be harmful to your eyes. Critical distance on that will depend on the rocket.