Space...

[javamoose]

Hello,
I was wondering, has anyone thought of a perfect, albeit expensive,
application for the Stirling Engine? I am referring to Space. Think
of it, where else do you have more extreme temperature deltas.
Facing towards our Sun would be the 'Hot' side of the engine, facing
away would be the 'Cold' side. The differences between the two are
enormous, built right, could this be more efficiant and effective
than Solar Cells. Solar Cells are monstrously expensive, and prone
to damage in space. It would seem to me that a properly built and
designed Stirling would be much more 'robust', in addition, could
provide quite an amount of energy for say a space station? You
yourself said the to build a higher-powered Stirling you would need
high cold-hot temperature deltas. I can think of no other
application with such a delta, at no cost or effort of man. Thanks
in advance for reading, and looking forwards to your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Joseph Reinhardt

[info74]

You are of course absolutely correct. The price for space qualified solar cells is extremely high and apparently the price for a space qualified solar thermal Stirling engine either is or could be significantly lower.

I happen to know this because within the last year I sold one of our MM-6 Stirling engines to someone at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory who was using it in a pitch for funding to the higher-ups to do exactly what you have outlined. Technically it is a wonderful idea.

Personally I will get much more interested in space Stirling engines when one of my classmates from the University of Illinois aero/astro engineering department figures out a low-cost way for me to be able to fly up there and enjoy the view!

Thirty years after the Wright brothers made their first flight you could buy an airline ticket across the North American continent. Thirty years after the first people flew in space, commercial space travel is nowhere to be found. It's high time for someone to figure out a low-cost way to put people safely in orbit and return them safely to earth at a much lower cost than is possible with current methods.

Of course space Stirling engines could be a great part of any space station, satellite, or better yet a space hotel!

[ray___6403]

There is much going on at NASA to develop space Stirling applications
both stirling engines and stirling coolers

NASA's Glenn Research Center has been focal point

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/tmsb/stirling.html

[info74]

We need to figure out how to get the several vehicles in which NASA installed Stirling engines into the hands of Stirling engine enthusiasts or they will end up in the scrap bin. Is anyone up to finding what out what NASA did with these and moving them in the right direction?

[watersracing42]

I just got interested in stirling engines after reading an article about nasa developing one for a moon base. They would use a small nuclear reactor to heat one side and the coldness of space to cool it.

[hareesh.gottipati]

Hi
I am doing a similar kind of research now. I have a LTD stirling engine. And we would like to send it to near space at an altitude of about about 10000 ft so that the hot region is inside the space vehicle and cols side is facing outwards which has a temp of about -40 degree celsius. But the problem is that my engine is producing a very low out put which I am wondering how to use it?

thanks