ATLANTA — A mission to the International Space Station in October will include new solar cells developed by Georgia Institute of Technology researchers.
The Aegis Aerospace MISSE-21 mission, expected to launch in October and remain in space for six months, will have a set of 18 photovoltaic cells from the university on it.
Georgia Tech said the cells are going up on the Multi-purpose International Space Station Experiment mission to test how conditions in outer space impact the way they work over time.
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Researchers plan to use the data from the test to learn more about how they can reduce the weight of each device and boost efficiency and reliability for their use generating power while in space.
“The main goal here is to improve power generation in space,” Jud Ready, principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and Associate Director of External Engagement with Georgia Tech’s Institute for Matter and Systems, said. “The limiting factor on the performance of a spacecraft is usually how much power you can produce. Power, size, weight, complexity, cost – all of these are tied closely to the electrical generation of the solar panels.”
The test on the ISS will include checks for how the solar cells handle temperature extremes, illumination variability, space radiation, debris impacts and atomic oxygen erosion.
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