China scientists develop space battery that can run on Mars’ atmosphere: paper

The lightweight, rechargeable battery’s design means it operates like a fuel cell and can handle the extreme Martian temperatures

Reading Time:2 minutes

A battery developed by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China could operate for nearly two Martian months at zero degrees, they say. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:00pm, 8 Oct 2024Updated: 12:13pm, 8 Oct 2024

Scientists in China say they have developed a lightweight, rechargeable battery for Mars exploration that could be powered by the Martian atmosphere while withstanding the planet’s extreme temperatures.

The researchers, from the University of Science and Technology of China, said the battery was capable of “direct inhalation of the Mars atmosphere as fuel” during discharge and secondary charging by external solar and nuclear energy sources.

According to the paper published by peer-reviewed journal Science Bulletin, the battery can run for more than 1,350 hours – nearly two Martian months – at zero degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit). A day on Mars is around 40 minutes longer than on Earth.

The researchers said they designed the battery so it could operate under the extreme temperature changes on Mars, where day and night can vary by up to 60 degrees.

“We have developed [the] battery for space exploration powered directly by the Mars atmosphere and evaluated the wide-temperature electrochemical performance to suit the serious temperature fluctuations on Mars,” they wrote.

“The development of Mars batteries aims to benchmark the monopolisation of secondary [lithium-ion batteries] carried in exploration devices from the 1997 American Sojourner rover to the 2021 Chinese Zhurong rover.”

Study author Xiao Xu, a postdoctoral researcher at the university in Hefei, Anhui province, southeast China, said the battery operated like a fuel cell, which converts the chemical reactions of an energy source into electricity.