Posted on 07/27/2015 4:32:51 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Later today, July 27, German scientists will present new experimental results on the controversial, "impossible" EM Drive, at the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics' Propulsion and Energy Forum in Orlando. The presentation is titled "Direct Thrust Measurements of an EmDrive and Evaluation of Possible Side-Effects."
Presenter Martin Tajmar is a professor and chair for Space Systems at the Dresden University of Technology, interested in space propulsion systems and breakthrough propulsion physics.
A Revolutionary Development for Space Travel
The EM Drive (Electro Magnetic Drive) uses electromagnetic microwave cavities to directly convert electrical energy to thrust without the need to expel any propellant. First proposed by Satellite Propulsion Research, a research company based in the UK founded by aerospace engineer Roger Shawyer, the EM Drive concept was predictably scorned by much of the mainstream research community for allegedly violating the laws of physics, including the conservation of momentum.
However, NASA Eagleworks – an advanced propulsion research group led by Dr. Harold G. “Sonny” White at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) – investigated the EM Drive and presented encouraging test results in 2014 at the 50th Joint Propulsion Conference.
White proposes that the EM Drive’s thrust is due to virtual particles in the quantum vacuum that behave like propellant ions in magneto-hydrodynamical propulsion systems, extracting "fuel" from the very fabric of space-time and eliminating the need to carry propellant. While a number of scientists criticize White's theoretical model, others feel that he is at least pointing to the right direction. The NASASpaceFlight website and forums have emerged as unofficial news source and discussion space for all things related to the EM Drive and related breakthrough space propulsion proposals such as the Cannae Drive.
Shawyer has often been dismissed by the research establishment for not having peer-reviewed scientific publications, but White and Tajmar have impeccable credentials that put them beyond cheap dismissal and scorn. Physics is an experimental science, and the fact that the EM Drive works is confirmed in the lab. "This is the first time that someone with a well-equipped lab and a strong background in tracking experimental error has been involved, rather than engineers who may be unconsciously influenced by a desire to see it work," notes Wired referring to Tajmar's work.
Hacked has obtained a copy of Tajmar's Propulsion and Energy Forum paper, co-authored by G. Fiedler.
"Our measurements reveal thrusts as expected from previous claims after carefully studying thermal and electromagnetic interferences," note the researchers. "If true, this could certainly revolutionize space travel."
"Additional tests need to be carried out to study the magnetic interaction of the power feeding lines used for the liquid metal contacts," conclude the researchers. "Nevertheless, we do observe thrusts close to the magnitude of the actual predictions after eliminating many possible error sources that should warrant further investigation into the phenomena. Next steps include better magnetic shielding, further vacuum tests and improved EMDrive models with higher Q factors and electronics that allow tuning for optimal operation."
Contrary to sensationalist reports published by the sensationalist press, the EM Drive is not a "warp drive" for faster than light travel. It could, however, according to current experimental evidence, be a revolutionary development for faster and cheaper space transportation.
Wired notes that an EmDrive could get to Pluto in less than 18 months and mentions more ambitious ideas including a manned trip to the moons of Saturn with a three-year mission time. "Some damage to our theories of physics is an acceptable payoff if we get a working space drive," concludes the Wired article.
The principle of generating small amounts of finite improbability by simply hooking the logic circuits of a Bambleweeny 57 Sub-Meson Brain to an atomic vector plotter suspended in a strong Brownian Motion producer (say a nice hot cup of tea) were of course well understood — and such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess’s undergarments leap simultaneously one foot to the left, in accordance with the theory of indeterminacy.
Many respectable physicists said that they weren’t going to stand for this, partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn’t get invited to those sorts of parties.
Another thing they couldn’t stand was the perpetual failure they encountered while trying to construct a machine which could generate the infinite improbability field needed to flip a spaceship across the mind-paralyzing distances between the farthest stars, and at the end of the day they grumpily announced that such a machine was virtually impossible.
Then, one day, a student who had been left to sweep up after a particularly unsuccessful party found himself reasoning in this way: If, he thought to himself, such a machine is a virtual impossibility, it must have finite improbability. So all I have to do in order to make one is to work out how exactly improbable it is, feed that figure into the finite improbability generator, give it a fresh cup of really hot tea... and turn it on!
He did this and was rather startled when he managed to create the long sought after golden Infinite Improbability generator. He was even more startled when just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute’s Prize for Extreme Cleverness he was lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had realized that one thing they couldn’t stand was a smart-ass.
Is this how ufos fly? :)
I like and understand your post better than the one above yours.
One thing is certain, that we need a continuous thrust device not burning up heavy rocket fuel and then waiting out the ride. With constant acceleration all the difficulty of these solar system trips will be gone.
Well not all the difficulty but it will be a lot quicker to pop over to Mars.
Why the mocking? You see something wrong with the NASA research?
Chester Gould thought of this over a half century ago.
PAGING MR TESLA
MR NIKOLA TESLA
PAGING MR TESLA
But will it end up being one of those things that works in a lab but impracticable elsewhere?
NASA Eagleworks is certainly legit. Kinda like the skunkworks.
I believe this is the same Dr Harold White who claims to have achieved nanometer scale warping of space.
If we built a spaceship attached to enough helium balloons to make it weigh almost nothing, how much fuel would it save putting it into orbit?
Well, if they can get thrust from the ‘quantum vacuum particles’ aka zero point energy, why use it on a space drive? Why not pipe it to an electrical generator turbine to produce “free” electricity? That’s the real big news here, a zero point energy motor.
If that’s possible then why not just send the electricity through a super-conducting coil for direct thrust? With such a Z-motor it would provide vehicle electricity plus thrust.
NASA’s into some pretty good advanced propulsion research lately. The other day there was an article on an FTL drive using space compression/expansion technology.
Of course, IMO these technologies are Black projects going back decades so these studies may go dark soon.
Maybe it pushes out fermions? Is that the principle at work?
BFL
The effects of thrust are also relative. If, for example, the otherwise micro-thrust of this EM drive was put on a craft equipped with a mass-negator (anti-gravity), the resulting acceleration and speed could be staggering. And yes, mass-negation has been demonstrated through experiments with fast-rotating magnetic fields.
Throw a trillion dollars in black money at all this for the last few decades (or more) and who knows what the government is sitting on!
Yes.
NASA has never submitted a report for peer review. Therefore, until one appears it's grandstanding at best, shameless fundraising at worst.
The experimental results are not sufficiently distinct from noise to establish that the result is real, and the experimentalists claiming this result have latched onto one phoney-baloney theory after another in an attempt to make their claims plausible. Last year, it was a relativistic effect produced by unbalanced Lorentz force at the different width ends of the resonant cavity. That claim got pretty well blown-up and now they're raving about virtual particles.
The reality is that if the experimental effect was large enough for them to get a peer-reviewed result into publication, theorists all over the world would be shoving each other out of the way to explain the effect, rather than the other way around: a handful of dubious "theories" without any serious experimental evidence for them to explain.
It seems to create an imbalance in the surrounding EM field. Then, I presume, it would "fall" down the "side" of the field, or better yet, "surf" the EM field "wave" it created between its inside and its outside.
And if you don't like that theory, well, I'll just come up with another one! LOL!
Some forum posts.
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