nitrogen tetroxide
nounDefinition of nitrogen tetroxide
: a colorless toxic gas N2O4 that is a dimer of nitrogen dioxide and that in liquid form is used as an oxidizer in rocket engines
Examples of nitrogen tetroxide in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
According to one source, the orange plumes were the result of between one and two tons of nitrogen tetroxide—the oxidizer used by Dragon's SuperDraco engines—burning at the location. — Eric Berger, Wired, "What’s Known About the SpaceX Crew Dragon Accident," 23 Apr. 2019 The system used helium as a pressurizing gas, inhibited nitrogen tetroxide for an oxidizer, and a blended hydrazine fuel made up of a mixture of around 50 percent unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine and 50 percent anhydrous hydrazine. — Alex Hollings, Popular Mechanics, "The Art of the Return Trip: How NASA Got Apollo 11 Home," 24 July 2019 This shrinking market has opened the door to the Angara rocket, which has the advantage of not using environmentally hazardous fuel for each of its stages—Proton engines used nitrogen tetroxide and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Russia’s Proton rocket, which predates Apollo, will finally stop flying," 25 June 2018 In modern rockets, such as the Space X Falcon 9 or the Saturn V, the propulsion system is powered by a fast, exothermic reaction between a liquid fuel (usually hydrogen, methane or hydrazine) and oxidizer (usually oxygen or nitrogen tetroxide). — Renee Morad, Scientific American, "Build the Best Alka-Rocket Ever—with Science," 7 Sep. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nitrogen tetroxide.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more