BY DAN RALEY | PHOTOS BY BOB FERGUSON nside a cluster of tan buildings at the base of California’s San Gabriel Mountains— and thousands of miles below most of the products it manufactures— Spectrolab’s scientists, engineers, technicians and a one-armed robot form the world’s largest producer of space solar cells and solar panels. A wholly owned Boeing subsidiary, Spectrolab has provided electric power to more than 600 satellites and delivered more than 4 million solar cells for communications, science and defense needs. It is responsible for the solar panels that sustain the International Space Station and the planet-finder Kepler Solar Array, and for the electric power to the Mars rover Opportunity, which is still exploring that planet 12 years I Photo: Nuart Righetti monitors thin film deposition equipment used in the production of solar cells at Spectrolab. 28 | BOEING FRONTIERS
Frontiers May 2016 Issue
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