Welcome to the first in our series of interviews with industry pioneers, Beyond the Grid: Interviews on Powering the Final Frontier! ???? ??
Today, we are speaking with Mark Miner, PhD, PE, Head of Mission Sciences at Gravitics Inc. He leads the company's development of thermal systems, batteries and solar power generation systems.
???????? ?????? ?????? ?????????????? ??????????-?????????????? ???????????????????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ???? ???????? ?????????? ???? ????????????????????/?????????????????? ???????? ?????????????????????
The usual twins, generation and storage. We’re looking to house all kinds of activities in our vehicles, and reliable solar generation has to pair with serious batteries. We appreciate mPower’s support with affordable solar for our body-mounted and optional deployable solar solutions.
?????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?????????? ???????????????????? ?????? ??????????????????????, ????????, ?????? ?????????????????????? ???? ???????? ?????????? ?????????????
It starts with customer requirements, then to the simplest suitable system to meet them. We do not have a bells-and-whistles power system, but we focus on proven components, and we want our supply partners to shine in their areas of expertise.
???????? ???????? ???? ?????????? ???????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ????????????(??) ?????? ???????
We aim to adopt demonstrated recent technology, rather than, say, ultra-heritage designs from decades ago. We believe this offers our customers the best performance at a reasonable cost, while building a design baseline that will allow us years of use.
?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ???????????? ?????????? ???????????? ?????????????????? ???????? ?????????????? ???? ??????????????, ???????????? ?????? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????????????? ?????? ???????? ?????????????????????
We will always favor a supplier that is available and willing to co-solve problems in their domain. This is possible with distant suppliers, but we especially value the ability to talk through a question or a concern promptly. The material supply chain is very important, but the key to good engineering is the information supply chain, especially for a young company.
?????? ?????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????/ ?????????? ?????????????? ?????????? ???? ???????????????? ?????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???? ???????????
Power is the currency of space, second perhaps to mass. It seems to me that mass was the driver in the launch-constrained world that has been, and the combination of today’s rapid-cadence launches, and the next-gen heavy launch vehicles will shift the pinch point to power. Solar will remain attractive for a very wide range of applications in the near-Earth space. The reduction in cost and the improved radiation tolerance of specialty silicon cells, will mean solar supplies the vast majority of space power for quite some time.
#spacepower #beyondthegrid #space #solarpower