Reconfigured n-reactors can power space flights Researchers and
engineers from the Los Alamos National Lab are reconfiguring
nuclear reactors to power space flights. Current space missions
use power supplies that generate as much electricity as one or
two light bulbs. The availability of more power could boost the
speed with which mission data is transmitted back to Earth. The
Los Alamos team recently showed how a heat pipe can cool a small
nuclear reactor and power a Stirling engine at the Nevada
National Security Site's device assembly facility near Las
Vegas. Developed at Los Alamos in 1963, heat pipe technology is
a sealed tube with an internal fluid that can efficiently
transfer heat produced by a reactor with no moving parts,
according to a Los Alamos statement. A Stirling engine is a
relatively simple engine that converts heat energy into power
using a pressurized gas to move a piston. Using the two devices
together allowed for creation of a simple, reliable electric
power supply that can be adapted fo