What kind of fuel did the space module carry to go to the moon and back?

Question

Great mileage! Why can't we use the same fuel for our cars? We're talking almost 500,000 miles.

Answer 1

Lessee, 4 million pounds of rocket fuel burned in a Saturn V to propel something like 10 tons? Doesn't sound like great fuel economy to me, especially considering there was no air friction and they were in free fall.....

Answer 2

This has a very obvious answer; the fuel was rarely used. In space there is no air, and minuscule gravity. The module simply aimed in the right direction, fired whatever the engines were, and continued even after the thrust was off. They only had to correct for slight fluctuations caused by gravity pulling the spacecraft to different areas. Other than that it would continue moving forward indefinitely. Think of it like this; pretend to throw a ball. On Earth it comes down, hits the ground, and friction from both the ground and air slow it down. In space it would be thrown, not come down (although there really is no such thing as "down" in space) hit no air, and get no friction acting on it. Therefore it could theoretically could go on basically forever (although this does not happen of course). Don't count on this too much, I only have an 8th grade education after all (as of today), correct my mistakes if there are any.

The fuel used was (according to Wikipedia, not the most trustable of sources) was Monomethylhydrazine.

Answer 3

You have no idea how space travel works, do you? The total firing time for all main rocket engines on a complete lunar mission is on the order of thirty minutes, maximum. In space you don't need constant firing to go somewhere. You push yourself off in one direction and you just coast Engines were fired for mid-course corrections, insertion into and escape from lunar orbit, and landing and ascent on the Moon. That's all. For most of the time the rockets are not needed.

If you're going to be sarcastic and disbelieving you might at least try to educate yourself first.

Answer 4

Liquid Hydrogen and Oxygen. This is not stuff you want to put in your car.

The mileage, of course, is due to the lack of friction in space. For the vast majority of the trip, the rockets are turned off.

Answer 5

Apollo Command Module:
CM RCS, N2O4/UDMH
SM RCS, N2O4/UDMH
Service propulsion, N2O4/Aerozine 50

Apollo Lunar Module:
LM RCS, N2O4/UDMH
Descent Propulsion, N2O4/Aerozine 50
Ascent Propulsion, N2O4/Aerozine 50

Cars are not in vacuum free fall.