Posted on 10/03/2012 3:52:03 PM PDT by Dallas59
There's a hierarchy of "Star Trek" inventions we would like to see become reality. We already have voice-controlled computers and communicators in the form of smartphones. A working Holodeck is under development. Now, how about we get some impulse engines for our starships?
The University of Alabama in Huntsville's Aerophysics Research Center, NASA, Boeing, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are collaborating on a project to produce nuclear fusion impulse rocket engines. It's no warp drive, but it would get us around the galaxy a lot quicker than current technologies.
According to Txchnologist, the scientists are hoping to make impulse drive a reality by 2030. It would be capable of taking a spacecraft from Earth to Mars in as little as six weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.cnet.com ...
"The fusion fuel we're focusing on is deuterium [a stable isotope of hydrogen] and Li6 [a stable isotope of the metal lithium] in a crystal structure," Txchnologist quotes team member and aerospace engineering Ph.D. candidate Ross Cortez saying. "That's basically dilithium crystals we're using." Let's pause and savor that for a moment. Dilithium crystals. Awesome.
I never could figure out how Impulse Engines worked on Star Trek - I only knew they didn’t hold a candle to Warp Drive.
But given where we are today, just having sub-light Impulse Engines isn’t all that bad, and I’d LOVE to see it put into use.
Awesome! Though Star Trek lore has impulse drive maximum speed pegged at around 25% the speed of light.
UAHuntsville student seeking ‘Holy Grail’ of rocket propulsion system
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Can a device formerly used to test nuclear weapons effects find a new life in rocket propulsion research? That is the question in which researchers at The University of Alabama in Huntsville seek an answer.
A new massive device is being assembled at the university’s Aerophysics Research Center on Redstone Arsenal, where a team of scientists and researchers from UAHuntsville’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Boeing and Marshall Space Flight Center’s Propulsion Engineering Lab are busy putting together a strange looking machine they’re calling the “Charger-1 Pulsed Power Generator.” It’s a key element in furthering the development of nuclear fusion technology to drive spacecraft.
The huge apparatus, known as the Decade Module Two (DM2) in its earlier life, was used on a contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for research into the effects of nuclear weapons explosions.
I want one for my Road King!
Has Scotty inspected it yet?
Hey, 167,400,000 MPH ain't bad, pretty hooked up in my book :^)
Okay, okay knock it off and get back to work. We have muslims to placate here at NASA. No time for this “space travel” nonsense. Seesh.
Well, its a far cry from the 47,000 mph advertised in the article :(
/johnny
Tribble Storage.
Whether it’s this engine or not, I always thought the old fire a rocket once on this end, travel for 6 months, then fire a slow down rocket approach is crazy.
If you just have an engine that can operate for the whole trip as needed, you are there in a few weeks.
THe problem as speed approaches the speed of light is that if you hit something the size of a grain of rice it is the equivalent of a small nuclear bomb.
I hope he doesn’t rub up against any of them.
The triboelectric effect can be something furious...
You must have read that wrong.
The Ford Fusion hybrid is supposed to get 47 miles to the gallon.
-PJ
No, the same action/reaction thrust/reverse thrust approach is here.
The difference is the top speed (currently advertised at around 47,000 mph). So whatever the calculation of accelerative force to that point (say, a few days), coast for 5 weeks, rotate the ship, and decelerate.
Forgot about that....My apologies to any Muslims that might have felt left out. Dy-lithium crystals....Wallah Snackbar!
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