GLTRS--Glenn
TITLE AND SUBTITLE:
Mars Solar Power

AUTHOR(S):
Geoffrey A. Landis, Thomas W. Kerslake,Phillip P. Jenkins, and David A. Scheiman

REPORT DATE:
November 2004

FUNDING NUMBERS:
WBS-22-390-30-20

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191

PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER:
E-14835

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES):
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546-0001

REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED:
Technical Memorandum

SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER:
NASA TM-2004-213367
AIAA-2004-5555

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES:
Prepared for the Second International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Providence, Rhode Island, August 16-19, 2004. Geoffrey A. Landis and Thomas W. Kerslake, NASA Glenn Research Center; Phillip P. Jenkins and David A. Scheiman, Ohio Aerospace Institute, 22800 Cedar Point Road, Brook Park, Ohio 44142. Responsible person, Geoffrey A. Landis, organization code 5410, 216-433-2238.

ABSTRACT:
NASA missions to Mars, both robotic and human, rely on solar arrays for the primary power system. Mars presents a number of challenges for solar power system operation, including a dusty atmosphere which modifies the spectrum and intensity of the incident solar illumination as a function of time of day, degradation of the array performance by dust deposition, and low temperature operation. The environmental challenges to Mars solar array operation will be discussed and test results of solar cell technology operating under Mars conditions will be presented, along with modeling of solar cell performance under Mars conditions. The design implications for advanced solar arrays for future Mars missions is discussed, and an example case, a Martian polar rover, are analyzed.

SUBJECT TERMS:
Mars; Photovoltaics; Solar power

NUMBER OF PAGES:
16

PDF AVAILABLE FROM URL:
2004/TM-2004-213367.pdf ( 1,393 KB )
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