LITHIUM TECHNOLOGY DELIVERS PROTOTYPE BATTERY TO UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
11 Mar 03. Lithium Technology Corporation, (“LTC”, “the Company”) (OTC Bulletin Board: LITH.OB – News), a pilot line stage rechargeable lithium battery manufacturer, has announced that its U.S. operating unit, GAIA USA, has delivered a small-scale prototype battery to the University of Chicago for a special airborne application. The University’s Astrophysics & Space Research Department is building research instrumentation for use in a high-altitude balloon under the sponsorship of NASA’s National Space Balloon Facility in Palestine, TX. The 30 Volt, 7 Amp- hour prototype unit will be used to perform system checks in advance of the delivery of the full-scale battery — a 30 Volt, 180 Amp-hour on board battery that will store solar electric power for use by the Tracer Lite II research instrumentation as it collects data on cosmic rays.
These high-altitude balloons offer a very cost-effective platform for conducting many of the low earth orbit experiments that have been carried out on Space Shuttle missions. According to Gary Kelderhouse, Research Engineer at the University of Chicago’s Astrophysics & Space Research Department, “NASA is able to extract more science per dollar with this approach.” Kelderhouse adds, “These `Balloon Crafts’ are unmanned and are not limited to conducting `man- rated’ experiments, which must consider the safety and availability of the person conducting the experiment.” This adds to the breadth of possible experiments with Balloon Crafts.
“LTC is ready to provide its lightweight lithium ion battery solutions for scientific and other high-altitude ballooning and airborne applications,” according to Ron Turi, GAIA USA’s Director of Product Development & Applications. “The battery for the University of Chicago represents a first delivery by LTC into this growing niche market.” LTC’s batteries carry the GAIA brand name and trademark.