Charged EVs | Chroma’s battery tester validated Orion’s lithium-ion systems for NASA’s Artemis II crewed lunar mission

Chroma Systems Solutions has announced that its Chroma 17020 Battery Test System was used to evaluate the lithium-ion battery systems aboard NASA’s Orion crew capsule for the Artemis II mission—the first crewed Artemis flight, a circumlunar voyage carrying four astronauts.

Testing happened in two phases. First, the 17020 was used in lab conditions to evaluate battery performance, reliability, and safety. Then the system was integrated directly into the launch tower, where it continued validating battery performance up to final countdown. The programmable test platform let NASA engineers simulate mission-specific load conditions, including eclipse periods when solar charging is unavailable and the batteries carry the full demand for communication, navigation, and propulsion systems.

Orion carries four primary lithium-ion batteries in the crew module, plus specialized batteries in the launch abort system—hardware that has to deliver on a single, no-failure-tolerated event if something goes wrong during ascent.

“We are proud to contribute to a mission that represents a major step forward in human space exploration,” said Fred Sabatine, CEO of Chroma Systems Solutions.

Source: Chroma Systems Solutions