PERFORMANCE OF NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES ON THE POES SERIES OF WEATHER SATELLITES

摘要

The advanced Television Infrared Observation satellite program is a cooperative effort between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United Kingdom, Canada and France, for providing day and night global environmental and associated data. NASA is responsible for procurement, launch, and checkout of these spacecraft before transferring them over to NOAA, who operates the spacecraft to support weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorological research by the National Weather Service. These spacecraft with all weather monitoring instruments imposed challenging requirements for the onboard electrical power subsystem (EPS). This paper provides first a brief overview of the overall power subsystem, followed by a description of batteries. A unique power subsystem design which provides "tender-loving-care" to these batteries is highlighted. This is followed by the on-orbit maintenance and performance data of the batteries since launch.