The leading battery and energetic devices manufacturing company, EaglePicher, will power NASA Rover to Mars with its batteries.
If the weather conditions do not become a hurdle, then batteries made by EaglePicher technologies will power the 75.6 million mile journey of NASA rover to the red planet. NASA will launch the rocket Atlas V on July 30. The rocket will carry the Perseverance rover from Cape Canaveral based in Florida. If everything goes smoothly according to the plans, then a machine with six wheels will begin its journey to explore the Jezero crater at Mars. The proposed launch is part of the exploration program of NASA. It will spend more than one year on the planet to explore the signs supporting human existence from the ancient past of the earth. In simple terms, the rover will find the answer to the question: Was there ever human existence on Mars?
Different types of batteries made by EaglePicher will power the rover mission at every stage. These stages will include the reaching of the rover to Earth orbit and its glide through space silently. Further, these batteries will power the rover in its descent through Mars’ atmosphere, along with its landing on the surface of Mars, which is sandy. According to the program manager Jackie Kennedy, there are 14 zinc silver batteries made by EaglePicher that will be employed on the Atlas V rocket. Two thermal batteries of the company will power the descent, landing, and entry systems. These batteries will be used on the subsystems of deployment responsible for the safe arrival of the vehicle. Besides, the batteries will power the parachute based on pyrotechnics responsible for land rovers on the planet.
While explaining the batteries’ functionality further, Kennedy said that the rover’s primary power system would use two batteries. The batteries are wired in parallel, and each array will contain the eight cells of 43-amp -hour aligned in a series. If we put in simple terms, then the battery weighing 59 pounds will be 28 volts with 86 amp hours capacity. Additionally, the other two batteries will also be housed following the same structure functioning independently from each other to provide support in case if any battery fails. The central power system of cells in Perseverance has been juiced by a low rate source of nuclear power.
The nuclear power source juiced in the batteries will help the rovers during their operations on Mars. These operations will include communications and driving along with other experiments of scientific nature. Previously, panels of the solar array were used to charge EaglePicher batteries used in rovers built by NASA. NASA has been switched away from using solar panels due to the power drops frequently occurring whenever solar panels covered by the sand storms.
Meanwhile, the general manager of the aerospace division of the company, Ron Nowlin said that the execution and implementation of the remote parts of the mission were not possible without the power backup provided by the batteries of the Joplin company. Ron said that everyone involved in the Mars mission deserves a grand party once the rover will be launched successfully. He said they usually don’t throw parties as more than 500 satellites are in orbit, but Mars Mission is somewhat exciting and unique.
Perseverance rover: Some more facts
Perseverance rover weighing 2260 pounds is the latest rover to be launched on the red planet powered by batteries made by EaglePicher. Before, NASA launched Viking Landers 1 and 2 in the year 1976. It became the first mission of the USA to land any spacecraft on the Mars surface safely. Next, the mission continued with the tiny Sojourner rovers in the year 1997 and then with the rovers Opportunity and Spirit in the year 2000. NASA launched Curiosity in the year 2011, and its explorations on the red planet are still in continuation. Besides, the latest and newest rover of NASA, which is advanced in technical terms, also will feature instruments almost seven in numbers.
It has a high-end camera system and a scanning system called Sherlock. The scanning system will search for the signs supporting human life on the red planet. Moreover, the latest NASA rover will also feature Ingenuity, which is a helicopter. However, Ingenuity is the only equipment in the newest rover that will not be powered by the batteries manufactured by EaglePicher. While explaining the matter, Nowlin said that it is disappointing that NASA has to use the battery in Ingenuity manufactured by other companies. He said that the company was willing to make NASA switch and use their cells. But, it didn’t happen, but the record of the company is speaking for itself. The batteries manufactured by EaglePicher have received tremendous accolades and attention from the users everywhere. He said the company is very close to completing about 3 billion cell hours in space without any mission failure.
EaglePicher Batteries: Significance role in the US Spacecraft Mission
The batteries manufactured by EaglePicher have been powering the spacecraft program of the USA since the year 1958. It was the year when the country sent its first satellite Explorer 1 in space. Since then, the batteries manufactured by EaglePicher have powered countless NASA missions, including probes, planetary Landers, and satellites. Its cells have been used to power the several Space Shuttle missions along with the Hubble Space Telescope. These batteries have also been used to power historic human-crewed missions to Apollo and tasks to Gemini and Mercury.
Jackie Kennedy, the program manager at EaglePicher, said it is inspiring and exciting to work for the company that is powering such massive space missions. She said the company was powering the space missions through its batteries even before she was born, and till now, it has powered many programs that paved the way for sending the men and women to the red planet. Jackie felt excited to be part of such a great company, playing a significant role in the space industry.
EaglePicher: Working on Orion Mission
EaglePicher has shipped new batteries that will eventually become part of crewed spacecraft Orion. The general manager of the aerospace division of EaglePicher, Row Nowlin, said it would be another milestone for the aerospace efforts of the company. Orion is a capsule-shaped spacecraft that will take men and women to Mars in the coming two decades, along with returning men and women to the Moon. Nowlin informed us that the company had delivered the batteries, and it is exciting for them to perform the actual product.
EaglePicher batteries are also part of the Artemis program of NASA. It is an Orion spacecraft that is unscrewed and will complete a mission of 25 days. In these twenty-five days, the spacecraft will spend six days while circling the Moon. The first mission, which is crewed one, is set for 2023, carrying a crew of two women and two men. It will take the astronauts for a weeklong mission around the Moon. The third Orion mission is planned for the year 2024, tentatively featuring the first crewed landing on the Moon. It has been the primary mission taking place after Apollo 17 in the year 1972. Later, NASA will send women and men astronauts on Mars. Amidst all, Nowlin said it is fantastic that batteries made by EaglePicher are playing such a significant role in making such massive missions successful.
Source :- https://kmsoffice.com/blog/eaglepicher-batteries-primed-to-send-nasa-rover-to-the-mars/
Daisy Martin is a qualified IT engineer by education. After working in the IT sector for a decade, she began writing about it two years ago. She loves to write about emerging technology like office.com/setup.
