Green fuel may power the future space missions: NASA
New Delhi : Future space missions are likely to use less toxic propellant than hydrazine, said NASA.
The US-based space agency had launched the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) last year to test if it can replace the toxic fuel with no compromise on results and things have turned out positive.
"This is the first time in 50 years NASA tested a new, high-performing monopropellant in space," Tim Smith, GPIM Mission Manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement.
"It has the potential to supplement or even replace hydrazine, which spacecraft have used since the 1960s."
The GPIM mission set out to test a monopropellant — a chemical propellant that can burn by itself without a separate oxidizer — called Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic (ASCENT).
GPIM’s effective demonstration of the propellant paved the way for NASA’s acceptance of the new fuel in new missions.
The next NASA mission to use this less toxic will be Lunar Flashlight.