Our work on the solar cells for Telstar I began in October, 1960. With
just a little more than a year to go before the satellite had to be
ready, there was no time to lose. So we decided to break down the
over-all problem into three parts:
—Finding out how radiation would affect various kinds of solar cells;
—Making experimental cells and, when the best had been picked,
determining the best ways to make them in the large quantities we
would need; and
—Developing ways to mount the cells on the Telstar satellite so that
they would withstand the stresses of being launched, the effects of
radiation particles, and extreme changes in temperature.
A different group of people began work simultaneously on each of these
three parts of the problem, with each of them going ahead under the
assumption that the others would be successful. Each group had to find
the answers to many very interesting questions, but since our space is
limited we can only discuss some of them here. Before doing so, however,
we must say something about what a solar cell is and how it works.