The ISS got the batteries in December, and are set to replace the 12 older nickel-hydrogen batteries on Jan. 6 and 13. These older batteries will be stored away, either on board or on a cargo ship.
It's a quiet end for the nickel-hydrogen batteries, which have powered the ISS in one form or another since the earliest designs of the space station in 1988. "The ISS power system," engineers from NASA and Boeing noted in 2001, was "the first on-orbit use of such a large quantity" of nickel-hydrogen batteries. These batteries were tested exclusively on the ground before sending them up.
But neither nickel nor hydrogen can match the energy-capturing power of lithium, a highly reactive element. The high-energy density of lithium (energy that can be stored in the element's atomic bonds) make it an easy choice. Lithium-ion batteries are also easier to recharge. Similar batteries also power hybrid cars.
The installation of the new batteries will mark the seventh spacewalk of NASA crew member Peggy Whitson. This is Whitson's second time aboard the ISS, the first woman to command the station twice. If her spacewalk is successful, she'll move into a tie for with NASA's Suni Williams for most completed by a woman.
The new lithium-ion batteries, as Spaceflight Now points out, are set to last for ten years—longer than the ISS plans on being around. With any luck, this could be the last battery upgrade the station ever sees.
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