One Athens business is shooting for the moon and beyond by making a specialized convertor for potential use during future NASA missions.
The technology developed at Sunpower, Inc., 182 Mill St., will be a component in the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), a power source for a deep space satellite that NASA will use for scientific research, said Josh Collins, a technical services manager at Sunpower.
We really want to see if we can reach new heights with the technology
and Sunpower is equipped to do that Collins said.
Sunpower creates the Advanced Stirling Convertor for the ASRG. The ASC is a free-piston stirling engine that converts heat from the fuel to power the ASRG's generator and, in turn, the generator powers sensors and other equipment on the satellite, Collins said.
Plutonium, which is in short supply, powers every nuclear power source. The ASRG runs on nuclear energy and uses a quarter of the plutonium that the thermo electric generators - the current NASA standard - use, said Jim Adams, the deputy director of NASA's planetary science division.
This means missions can use the same amount of power with a quarter of the plutonium, Adams said.
We can fly with nuclear power and open up a realm of science for much lower costs than we had dreamed previously he said.
NASA will make a decision about which mission could potentially use the ASRG by 2012, Adams said.
Sunpower and NASA began working on the ASRG seven years ago, developing 13 ASC convertors in total. Sunpower sends the ASCs to NASA where they are tested under varying conditions such as space flight durability.
These guys at Sunpower have knocked the ball out of the park converting heat to electricity
Adams said. The future of our mission is enabled by the guys
at Sunpower.
Sunpower will continue making the ASC as NASA continues testing. The company also will continue researching new ideas for the free-piston stirling engine for customers in business and government, Collins said.
We are bringing space technology back to earth and making it more widely available with the public
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Sarah Beth Hensley
