What are the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel for rockets?

Liquid hydrogen fuel has many benefits, including its low molecular weight and high energy output when burned together with liquid oxygen. Liquid fuels are often a popular choice for secondary/upper rocket stages after solid rocket fuels provide the extra thrust required for liftoff.

Why did Apollo use fuel cells?

The fuel cell was an ideal source of on-board electrical power with the additional advantage that the exhaust water could be used both for drinking by the crew and humidification of the capsule’s atmosphere.

How did the Apollo spacecraft make electricity?

Electricity for the Apollo Command Module was generated by fuel cells, like this one. A set of three fuel cells combined oxygen and hydrogen in the service module. The result of the chemical combining also created water.

How did the Apollo fuel cells work?

The Apollo Command Module’s primary source of electric power was from a set of three “fuel cells” housed in the Service Module. Each fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water. Each cell has hydrogen and an oxygen compartments and electrodes and in combination produce 27 to 31 volts.

How did astronauts get oxygen on the moon?

How did the astronauts breathe? When they were on the Moon, astronauts wore a Portable Life Support System (PLSS), which was the large box on the back of their spacesuits. This provided them with oxygen to breathe in and removed the carbon dioxide they exhaled.

How was hydrogen used to fuel the space shuttle?

They were refurbished to support NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and other launch vehicles. For example, the rocket engines of each shuttle flight burn about 500,000 gallons of cold liquid hydrogen with another 239,000 gallons depleted by storage boil off and transfer operations.

What type of fuel cell was used in the Apollo space mission?

Alkaline fuel cells consume hydrogen and pure oxygen, to produce potable water, heat, and electricity. They are among the most efficient fuel cells, having the potential to reach 70\%. NASA has used alkaline fuel cells since the mid-1960s, in the Apollo-series missions and on the Space Shuttle.

What is a hydrogen oxygen fuel cell?

A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity through an electrochemical reaction, not combustion. In a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are combined to generate electricity, heat, and water. A typical fuel cell works by passing hydrogen through the anode of a fuel cell and oxygen through the cathode.

How do alkaline fuel cells work?

How did the Apollo 11 lander module work?

NASA’s Apollo 11: How the Lander Module worked. The Lander, also known as the Lunar Module (LM), was a two-stage craft built to separate from the Apollo Command and Service Module, and then travel to and from the moon’s surface. It first landed on the moon on 20 July 1969. Generally the descent stage was left on the moon,…

What is the fuel used to power the Mars lander?

The Lander was powered by a rocket fuel called Aerozine 50. It is still used in spacecraft and rockets because it is a highly stable fuel with a low freezing point. Aerozine 50 is used in conjunction with a chemical compound called dinitrogen tetroxide, an oxidiser.

What is the moon lander called?

The Lander, also known as the Lunar Module (LM), was a two-stage craft built to separate from the Apollo Command and Service Module, and then travel to and from the moon’s surface. It first landed on the moon on 20 July 1969.

How did the LM get off the Moon?

Driven by a non-gimbaled, fixed-thrust engine and powered by Aerozine 50 fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer, the hypergolic materials that provided the thrust necessary to get the LM off the Moon’s surface were so corrosive that they burned through the engine each time they were fired (requiring the engine be rebuilt).