Galileo probe battery system

Author

Dagarin, B.P. ; Taenaka, R.K. ; Stofel, E.J.

Author_Institution

Hughes Space & Telecomun. Co., El Segundo, CA, USA

Volume

11

Issue

6

fYear

1996

fDate

6/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

6

Lastpage

13

Abstract

NASA´s pair of Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter on 7 December 1995. The Probe descended into the upper Jovian atmosphere, performing its planned sequence of scientific measurements of the properties of that medium for about an hour. This Probe has been the most ambitious planetary entry vehicle to date. It evolved over several years of planning and construction, its launch was postponed many times, for a variety of reasons; and it required more than 6 years of travel after launch to reach the planet. Its electrical power was provided by a primary Li-SO₂ battery, supplemented with two thermal batteries (CaCrO₄-Ca) used for firing pyrotechnic initiators during the atmospheric entry. These power sources were designed to be robust, to assure they would perform their intended function after surviving several years in space. This paper discusses the final production, qualification, and the systems testing of these batteries prior to and following launch. Their excellent performance at Jupiter confirmed their life enhancement design features

Keywords

aerospace testing; battery testers; calcium; calcium compounds; life testing; lithium; power system reliability; primary cells; production testing; space vehicle power plants; sulphur compounds; CaCrO₄-Ca; Galileo probe battery; Galileo spacecraft; Jovian atmosphere; Jupiter; Li-SO₂; NASA´; atmospheric entry; electrical power; firing; life enhancement design; performance; primary Li-SO₂ battery; production; pyrotechnic initiators; qualification; scientific measurements; testing; thermal batteries; Atmosphere; Atmospheric measurements; Battery charge measurement; Extraterrestrial measurements; Firing; Jupiter; Performance evaluation; Planets; Probes; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8985

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/62.500204

Filename

500204