Working on sunshine Spectrolab employees are producing some far-out solar cells after landing. Relying on Spectrolab solar cells, NASA’s Juno space probe earlier this year reached a record 492 million miles (792 million kilometers) from the sun—the longest distance ever from the sun by a spacecraft using solar power. Its final destination is Jupiter. Spectrolab is so ingrained in space it even captures the imagination of the people who work in its factory in Sylmar, Calif., which is northeast of Los Angeles. That includes Rina Bardfield, panel design and test engineering section leader. Her love for the TV series Star Trek led her into her profession. Spectrolab keeps her there. “It’s all science-fiction stuff, but it’s what we do; it’s a leaping point for sure,” Bardfield said. “I get a little choked up when I stop to think about it—we do pretty cool stuff.” Spectrolab, founded in 1956 by recently deceased philanthropist and entrepreneur Alfred Mann, has three main product lines: solar cells, solar simulators and lighting. One business has led to another. The need to test the cells brought the simulators, which, in turn, created the illumination products. Today, Spectrolab provides MAY 2016 | 29
Frontiers May 2016 Issue
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