Rosetta's solar panels
Date: 23 August 2002
Satellite: Rosetta
Depicts: Rosetta spacecraft with one of its two solar wings fully deployed
Copyright: ESA–A. Van der Geest
Rosetta marks several firsts in space exploration. It is the first mission to journey beyond the main asteroid belt relying solely on solar cells for power generation, allowing it to operate 800 million km from the Sun, where levels of sunlight are only 4% of those received by Earth.
Rosetta's electric power generation was based on a new technology of very high-efficiency solar cells known as LILT cells, standing for Low Intensity, Low Temperature.
One of Rosetta's two 14m-long solar array wings is seen in this photo, fully deployed and supported by an overhead rig. Each wing comprises 5 large solar panels and the combined surface area of the two solar array wings is 64 m².
Last Update: 1 September 2019
