Honda and Astrobotic team up to keep the lights on through the long lunar night | TechCrunch

"The companies on Monday partnered up to study whether Honda's regenerative fuel cell (RFC) can be integrated into Astrobotic's LunaGrid, a scalable power service built around solar arrays. The two will conduct "illumination studies" at potential lunar south pole landing sites, and evaluate system scalability as well as hardware and software integration. A key challenge for lunar exploration is surviving the two-week-long lunar night, when temperatures can plunge to as low as -424 degrees Fahrenheit in some regions, while solar panels sit idle."

"Honda's RFC addresses that problem by storing solar power as hydrogen during the lunar day and converting it back into electricity at night, producing water as the only byproduct. That water is then recycled into a high-pressure electrolysis system to create more hydrogen, forming what Honda calls "a closed-loop energy cycle." Astrobotic's' Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) is designed to track the sun for maximum energy capture, and is planned to have a capacity of up to 10 kilowatts."

"The company is also developing an XL version, which would generate five times more power. Together, VSAT would collect sunlight during the day to power the water electrolysis system, while the RFC would convert that stored hydrogen into electricity through the night. The aim is a real moonshot: continuous, reliable power on the lunar surface. Founded in 2007, Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic is best known for its Peregrine lunar lander, which launched at the beginning of this year but did not complete its mission."

Honda and Astrobotic partnered to study integrating a regenerative fuel cell (RFC) into Astrobotic's LunaGrid solar-based power service and to run illumination studies at potential lunar south pole landing sites. The RFC stores solar energy as hydrogen during the lunar day and converts it back into electricity at night, producing water as the only byproduct. That water is recycled via high-pressure electrolysis to regenerate hydrogen, creating a closed-loop energy cycle. Astrobotic's Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) will track the sun and provide up to 10 kilowatts, with an XL version offering five times more. The combined system aims to deliver continuous lunar power.

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