Recycling Technology Converts Plastic Waste to Energy

Glenn Research Center has always been in the business of perfecting engines. During World War II, the center, then called the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory, developed a cooling system for the B-29 Super Fortress—a four-engine, propeller-driven heavy bomber that saw action in East Asia—and also investigated carburetor icing issues in preparation for aircraft flying over the Himalayas into China. In 1945, well before the dawn of the Space Age, trailblazing rocket scientists there began investigating the use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel source, culminating in the development of the Centaur rocket, which would become the Nation’s first upper-stage launch vehicle. Since the mid-1960s, Centaur has propelled into space numerous weather probes, communications satellites, and planetary explorers, such as Surveyor, Pioneer, Viking, and Voyager.