Beginning this year, the International Space Station (ISS) is having a big overhaul, as Boeing is selected to supply six new solar arrays. They would supply up to 30 percent more energy to the orbital laboratory for scientific and industrial purposes.
The ISS has been in service for over two decades, and between 2025 and 2030, it is expected to be decommissioned. That said, while it shifts away from solely government influence to a broader interaction with private industry, it is also being applied to and updated to fulfill different missions.
IN SPACE - SEPTEMBER 17: In this handout photo provided by NASA, the International Space Station is seen over a blue and white Earth, taken shortly after the Space Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the orbital outpost at 7:50 a.m. CDT. The unlinking completed six days, two hours and two minutes of joint operations with the station crew. Atlantis left the station with a new, second pair of 240-foot solar wings, attached to a new 17.5-ton section of truss with batteries, electronics and a giant rotating joint. The new solar arrays eventually will double the station's onboard power when their electrical systems are brought online during the next shuttle flight, planned for launch in December.
A variety of upgrades have been part of this project, like the universal docking port and upgraded nickel-hydrogen batteries to run the station in an eclipse. Today, with the latest solar panels, it is also receiving a big addition.
A team of NASA astronauts onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour deployed the first solar arrays in December 2000.
How The Solar Panels Work
For more than 20 years, the first couple of solar panels have been supplying fuel to the ISS. NASA said in a statement that the new panels display signs of deterioration while the solar array is working well. NASA needed to ensure adequate electricity is retained for ISS-related activities.
The latest 19 by 6-meter (63 by 20-foot) arrays, built by Boeing's Spectrolab subsidiary, are focused from the XTJ Prime family of solar cells that produce more electricity than previous cells while working at a cooler temperature with less waste heat.
The half-dozen arrays can produce over 120 kilowatts of electricity when the installation is complete, or enough to fuel 40 US households. This would indicate an increase of 20 to 30 percent of usable electricity, along with the initial eight arrays providing 240 kilowatts for the growing power demands of new experiments and applications.
For a total of up to 215 kilowatts, the remaining uncovered solar array and partly uncovered initial arrays would continue to produce approximately 95 kilowatts of electricity. During three resupply missions beginning this year, the solar arrays will be shipped to the ISS in pairs utilizing the unpressurized trunk of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. The installation would involve two spacewalks.
Where Are These Solar Panels Made?
The latest solar arrays are a bigger variant of the effectively tested Roll-Out Solar Array technology during a space station test in June 2017. The latest solar arrays would be installed in front of the six current arrays, utilizing established sun monitoring, delivery of electricity, and channeling.
The latest arrays are being designed in conjunction with Santa Barbara, California's Deployable Space Systems, which supplies the structural elements. The items include the deployment canister and the structure that will sustain the array when solar panel unfurl the "blankets." A version of the latest array was evaluated on the ISS in 2017, according to Boeing.
Tony Mueller, President of Spectrolab, said the XTJ Prime space solar cells are far more powerful than those of their contemporaries. He added these cells are fit to help the cutting-edge research carried out onboard the International Space Station.
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