Every U.S. manned space mission during the past four decades has used fuel cell power plants built by the UTC Fuel Cells unit of UTC Power. In total, the Space Shuttle fuel cells -- there are three per orbiter -- have accumulated more than 91,000 hours of flight operation.

A fuel cell is a highly efficient power generating system that produces electricity directly by the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Water produced as a byproduct provides drinking water for the astronauts.

Each alkaline fuel cell is capable of producing up to 12kW and is more than 70 percent efficient, which is two to three times better than a typical combustion engine. Cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen feed each of the self-contained units, which are installed under the payload bay, just aft of the crew compartment.

"Our fuel cells have demonstrated outstanding reliability -- more than 99 percent availability -- since the Shuttle era commenced in 1981," said Jan van Dokkum, company president. "As a company, we are extremely proud of the durability and energy efficiency of our environmentally advanced products, whether applied for use in space or on the ground at buildings or in automobiles and buses."

UTC Power manufactured the first commercially available stationary fuel cell to provide on-site building power in 1991 and since that time has installed units worldwide that have accumulated more than 1 billion kilowatt hours of experience.