The Space Batteries We Sometimes Forget

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When we view those wonderful photos Hubble takes of exploding galaxies, we may forget it does so using battery power. The earliest satellites that winked across the night sky in the mid-1950’s had primary batteries that only lasted a few days. Nowadays, solar power panels renew batteries out in space so crafts can keep traveling for decades beyond our solar system.

Batteries Out in Space Face Special Challenges

batteries out in space
Hubble NiH2 Batteries: NASA: Public Domain

The batteries we use in phones and laptops would not last long at all beyond earth’s atmosphere. Because they would experience extreme vibrations and acceleration as their spacecraft soared into the sky. Once in space they could be in a vacuum.

If they emitted gas, they might corrode the delicate electronics. If this happened, the vehicle’s trajectory could change, or life support systems for astronauts fail. Space batteries must survive high-ionizing radiation too. And finally, batteries out in space must be able to recycle several thousand times. That is a tall order for a technology where battery basics have not changed for centuries.

Exciting New Technologies Are on the Threshold

batteries out in space
Cosmic Light Sabre in Orion: NASA: CC 4.0

There is talk on the streets of water-based nuclear batteries in space, which could power satellites for centuries. According to Factor-Tech, these will obtain their energy from isotopes in a water-based solution.

The University of Missouri made a prototype where a nanostructured titanium-dioxide electrode accumulates the energy. And then changes this into electrons. A NASA spokesperson believes the tiny batteries out in space could provide “low levels of power for an extremely long period of time … at extremely low temperatures” too.

This technology is not new. Lithium rolled it over because lithium-ion was more practical. Things change, we move on, perhaps into deep space with water-based nuclear batteries someday. Scientists call this technology betavoltaics. The word ‘beta’ means ‘the second in a series’ … the second generation of volts, perhaps?

Related

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Preview Image: Discovery Deploys Hubble

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About Author

I tripped over a shrinking bank balance and fell into the writing gig unintentionally. This was after I escaped the corporate world and searched in vain for ways to become rich on the internet by doing nothing. Despite the fact that writing is no recipe for wealth, I rather enjoy it. I will not deny I am obsessed with it when I have the time. I live in Margate on the Kwazulu-Natal south coast of South Africa. I work from home where I ponder on the future of the planet, and what lies beyond in the great hereafter. Sometimes I step out of my computer into the silent riverine forests, and empty golden beaches for which the area is renowned. Richard

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