A small spacecraft the size of a mini-refrigerator is packed with cutting-edge “green” technology. NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission, or GPIM, will prove a sustainable and efficient approach to spaceflight. The mission will test a low toxicity propellant and compatible systems in space for the first time. This technology could improve the performance of future missions by providing for longer mission durations using less propellant.
In this photo, a Ball Aerospace engineer performs final checks before the spacecraft shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch processing. GPIM is one of four unique NASA technology missions aboard the June 2019 SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Test Program-2 (STP-2).
Credits: Ball Aerospace
Last Updated: May 21, 2019
Editor: Yvette Smith
According to Nasa: NASA is developing a green alternative to conventional chemical propulsion systems for next-generation launch vehicles and spacecraft.
For launch vehicles it makes sense.
In space, however, it’s a dead cert that nobody will be taking their helmet off.
This reminds me of an old cartoon. Three astronauts are standing on the walk between the gantry and the capsule. They are wearing their space suits and carrying their individual portable air conditioners. They are looking the booster and capsule when one of the says, “Just think, this was all bought from the lowest bidder.”