Technology & AI
NASA tests batteries for the Moon's freezing nights
In tests reported on October 14, 2026, small solid-state batteries still worked at minus 80 degrees Celsius.
NASA is developing a new kind of battery that could work in the extreme cold of the Moon. The space agency described the project and its recent test results in an article on October 14, 2026. Near the Moon's south pole, the temperature at night can drop to minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit. On the Celsius scale, where water freezes at zero degrees, that is minus 200 degrees.
The project is called SPEARS, and it is led by a team at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The batteries are being tested at another NASA center, Langley Research Center, in Hampton, Virginia. NASA says SPEARS could help to power a long-term human presence on the Moon, as part of its Artemis campaign.
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To continue to exist, or to stay in good condition, after something very difficult or dangerous.
Even these batteries cannot work at minus 170 degrees, but they survive because a solid electrolyte does not freeze.