RESEARCH ON MATERIALS AND METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION FOR THERMOVOLTAIC CELLS AND BATTERIES

NASA NEEDS RELIABLE, SAFE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE BATTERIES TO SOLVE SOME DEMANDING TASKS ON SPACE STATION MISSIONS PLANNED FOR THE 1990S. THERMOVOLTAIC CELLS AND BATTERIES OFFER POSSIBILITIES BEYOND THOSE OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE BATTERIES AND OF OTHER BATTERIES NOW UNDER DEVELOPMENT, WHICH NOT ONLY FAIL TO MEET THE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS, BUT IN MANY CASES PRESENT SEVERE SAFETY PROBLEMS. THIS PROJECT WILL DETERMINE OPTIMUM COMBINATIONS OF MATERIALS AND METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION FOR VAPOR-VOLT CELLS OPERATING NEAR AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, BUT DAMP. EXPERIMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED AND THE THEORY WILL BE REFINED UNTIL THE CELLS CANCONFIDENTLY BE APPLIED TO DESIGNING LARGE, PRACTICAL, SPACE POWER SYSTEMS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT A VAPOR-VOLT BATTERY OF 1 WATT, HAVING SPECIFIC STORED ENERGY OF 1000 WATT-HR/LB, IS FEASIBLE. NASA NEEDS RELIABLE, SAFE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE BATTERIES TO SOLVE SOME DEMANDING TASKS ON SPACE STATION MISSIONS PLANNED FOR THE 1990S. THERMOVOLTAIC CELLS AND BATTERIES OFFER POSSIBILITIES BEYOND THOSE OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE BATTERIES AND OF OTHER BATTERIES NOW UNDER DEVELOPMENT, WHICH NOT ONLY FAIL TO MEET THE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS, BUT IN MANY CASES PRESENT SEVERE SAFETY PROBLEMS. THIS PROJECT WILL DETERMINE OPTIMUM COMBINATIONS OF MATERIALS AND METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION FOR VAPOR-VOLT CELLS OPERATING NEAR AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, BUT DAMP. EXPERIMENTS WILL BE PERFORMED AND THE THEORY WILL BE REFINED UNTIL THE CELLS CANCONFIDENTLY BE APPLIED TO DESIGNING LARGE, PRACTICAL, SPACE POWER SYSTEMS. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT A VAPOR-VOLT BATTERY OF 1 WATT, HAVING SPECIFIC STORED ENERGY OF 1000 WATT-HR/LB, IS FEASIBLE.