Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This fuel cell is a simulator version of the electric-power generating device used on the two-astronaut Gemini spacecraft during seven missions in 1965-66. A fuel cell is like a battery, in that it uses a chemical reaction to create an electrical current. Unlike a battery, a fuel cell will continue to generate a current as long as the reactants are supplied. The Gemini fuel cell used liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen to generate electricity, with water as a byproduct. Oxygen and hydrogen molecules reacted and combined across a "proton exchange membrane," a thin permeable polymer sheet coated with a platinum catalyst.

The Gemini program pioneered the use of fuel cells in space, and this technology was subsequently used in the Apollo Service Module and the Space Shuttle Orbiter. General Electric, the manufacturer of Gemini fuel cells, gave this artifact to the Smithsonian in 1971.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Crewed-Electrical Power Manufacturer General Electric Company
 Dimensions Storage (Rehoused on aluminum pallet with three additional objects): 123.8 × 174.6 × 145.4cm, 231.3kg (48 3/4 × 68 3/4 × 57 1/4 in., 510lb.)
 Materials Aluminum, Plastic, Steel, Stainless Steel, Paper, Rubber (Silicone), Cadmium Plating, Magnesium, Titanium, Gold Plating, Brass, Copper, Acrylic (Plexiglas), Paint
 Inventory Number A19731128000 Credit Line Gift of the General Electric Company, Aircraft Engine Group Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.