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NASA Wants Green Rocket Fuel

Posted by samzenpus on from the save-the-earth-before-you-leave-it dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA is looking for technology that could offer green rocket fuel alternatives to the highly toxic fuel hydrazine used to fire up most rockets today. According to NASA: 'Hydrazine is an efficient and ubiquitous propellant that can be stored for long periods of time, but is also highly corrosive and toxic.' It is used extensively on commercial and defense department satellites as well as for NASA science and exploration missions."

1 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Re:God help us by stevelinton · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hydrazine is described as corrosive and toxic, both of which will make it expensive to handle, require special pipes and tanks and so on. As far as I know, it's not
    an environmental consideration -- it surely decays to nitrogen and water pretty fast.

    I suspect this is about cost saving in the handling.