NASA Drops Methane Propulsion for CEV Program

摘要

NASA's decision to drop the development of liquid oxygen-and-methane-fueled engines from its Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) program is viewed as an opportunity lost by proponents of the clean-burning propellant When NASA rolled out its detailed space exploration plans in September, the U.S. space agency touted methane's performance advantages over more conventional propellant choices and emphasized the potential for producing fuel for the methane engine on the surface of the Moon and Mars. This capability, in theory, would help lower the cost of sustained operations in either location.