NASA KRUSTY nuclear reactor - photo

[mklotz]

I'm just wondering what it's used for. A sterling engine(s) still can't paddle a spacecraft around the solar system. Or would it be for generating electricity? Hydraulics, or any kind of powered mechanical movement? When solar panels just won't cut it.

Solar cells become useless for spacecraft that get far from the sun so reactors are used. The Stirling (note spelling) engines provide a simple way to convert the heat from the atomic pile into mechanical motion to drive a generator. Efficiency is high because the coldness of space provides a large temperature differential for the engines - see Carnot's theorem...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot...hermodynamics)