A versatile silver oxide-zinc battery for synchronous orbit and planetary missions

A new kind of silver-zinc cell was developed and tested under NASA support which can withstand severe heat sterilization requirements and does not display the traditional life limiting aspect of sinc electrodes i.e. shape change. These cells could be used on planetary lander mission which require wet-stand periods of over a year, a modest number of cycles (400 to 500) and may require dry heat sterilization. The weight advantage of these cells over the traditional nickel cadmium batteries also makes it an attractive alternative for synchronous orbit service where 400 to 500 cycles would be required over a 5 year period