How Do Hydrogen Powered Rockets Work?
Hydrogen has been used as a rocket fuel since the beginning of the space program. While more mundane kerosene has been preferred for many launch applications, hydrogen is without peer for large-scale space applications like the Apollo program.
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Principle
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Hydrogen is combined with oxygen in the presence of an ignition source, resulting in a highly exothermic reaction result. The superheated products of this reaction are vented from the rocket's combustion chamber and guided away from the craft with a nozzle. Expulsion of the reaction products pushes the spacecraft forwards, as per Newton's Third Law (for every action force their is an equal and opposite reaction force).
Advantages
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Hydrogen rockets have the highest possible specific impulse (fuel efficiency) of any chemical rocket. This makes them ideal for applications which require the high thrust of a chemical rocket, but for which efficiency is still a desired characteristic.
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Drawbacks
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Hydrogen has very low density, so a given mass of it must be stored in a much larger fuel tank (meaning the rocket has to be bigger). It also has to be stored at very low temperature so that it remains a liquid, requiring special equipment and thermally insulated tanks.
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References
- Photo Credit Rocket image by Yuriy Rozanov from Fotolia.com
