Lunar Prospector 5 Ah Super NiCd battery performance characteristics

Lunar Prospector uses a 5 Ah Super NiCd twenty-two cell battery in a battery dominated satellite bus architecture. The battery is tasked heavily in a “LEO”-type cycle regime. The lunar orbit is 118 minutes, with an eclipse of 47 minutes maximum. The battery will experience approximately 3500 cycles between 50 and 60 percent DOD (depth of discharge). The Super NiCd battery type was selected because of its robust cycle life performance. The charge control used for this mission is a charge to a temperature compensated constant voltage method. Substantial characterization testing was performed to verify battery performance in this rigorous regime. Lunar Prospector is one of the Discovery series of NASA missions which is accomplished at minimal cost