The first fuel cells were invented in 1838 by Sir William Grove, however it was over a century later until fuel cells were first used commercially, following the invention of the hydrogen oxygen fuel cell by Francis Thomas Bacon in 1932. Alkaline fuel cells, also known as the ‘Bacon Fuel Cell’ after their inventor, have been in use by NASA since the mide-1960s, where they are used to provide power to satellites and space capsules.