ONE YEAR ON MARS AND STILL RUNNING!!
 

10.5 Amp-Hour Lithium-Ion Battery

Yardney Joins in One Year Celebration of Mars Exploration

Pawcatuck, CT USA - Jan 10, 2005   Lithion Inc, a division of Yardney Technical Products celebrated the one-year anniversary of their Mars Rover batteries successfully operating on Mars last week.    The mission was originally planned to last only three months.  Through a combination of good luck, good "design margins", and decent Martian weather, the mission was extended until March 2005.  Both Rovers landed on the Martian planet in January of 2004, after a long nine-month journey through space.  Since that time, the Rovers have fascinated the world with historic pictures and credible data confirming water once existed on the planet.              

"We never imagined we would still be collecting data one year after landing on Mars." Vince Yevoli, Vice President and General Manager of Lithion, stated. "We are proud members of the NASA team, and we share in wishing the MER Rovers two Happy Birthdays!  We hope to send more Explorers, with Lithion Batteries their way soon!"

The two 28V, 8Ah Li-ion batteries are used to provide power to the Mars Explorer Rover during the Martian night and to provide peak power to the MER during the day when several scientific instruments are being used.