Yardney Celebrates Mars Exploration

Lithion Inc., a division of Yardney Technical Products of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Mars Rover batteries successfully operating on Mars. 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 2004 after a nine-month journey. Since then the Rovers have fascinated the world with historic pictures and credible data confirming that 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, said. “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.