Dec 8 1976
From The Space Library
NASA announced that the proceedings of its Nov. 1976 workshop on space battery technology were available from GSFC, where the sessions had been held annually since 1968. Batteries had proved to be the major limiting factor in long-life space systems used for research in communications, weather, and earth-resources detection and monitoring; current life expectancy for batteries was 3 to 7 yr, depending on orbital altitude. (Spacecraft in synchronous orbit at 35 000 km altitude derived power from electrochemical batteries charged by solar cells on the spacecraft surface; batteries on these craft, continuously in the sun except for two eclipse periods per year, would escape the charge discharge cycling that wore out similar batteries carried on spacecraft circling the earth every 90 min at lower altitudes, discharging their power in the resultant periods of darkness.) NASA had begun the workshops to exchange information between manufacturers and users for increasing efficiency and lifetime of the batteries, resulting in improvements by industry in batteries used for heart pacemakers, aircraft, and consumer goods such as portable tape recorders, radios, and flashlights.
Gerald Halpert, GSFC chairman of the battery workshop, said the Nov. session had reviewed a new technique of fabricating battery plates electrochemically at temperatures of 100°C, which would reduce the number of steps in the process and provide a more uniform product. Also discussed was a rechargeable nickel-hydrogen battery, a new product that could provide more energy per kg for larger systems, with storage capacities ranging from 25 to 100 ampere-hr. The nickel-hydrogen unit would be used for the first time on the Navigational Technology Satellite-2, part of the joint services research program for a global satellite system. Another topic was the special procedures developed at GSFC for battery improvement that had been implemented in industry for quality control and evaluation of the product. (NASA Release 76-200)
ESA concluded its preliminary design review of the manned orbital Spacelab at the premises of the prime Spacelab contractor, VFW-Fokker/ERNO in Bremen, W. Germany. Senior representatives of ESA, NASA, and ERNO said the review was successful and the result exceeded expectations. The review cleared the way for a detailed design phase to begin development of the engineering model of Spacelab, due for delivery by the end of 1978. The flight model would be delivered by the end of 1979 for a first ESA-NASA mission in 1980. (ESA release 9 Dec 76)
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