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Travel to Mars in 3 hours (Air force studies Trek tech)
The Scotsman ^ | January 5 2006 | Ian Johnston

Posted on 01/05/2006 8:42:46 AM PST by jbwbubba

AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and result in thrust for a spacecraft.

Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster, allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.

The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.scotsman.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: makeitso; podkletnov; space; warp
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To: JenB; TalonDJ

Feasible or not, this is kinda interesting.


21 posted on 01/05/2006 8:56:20 AM PST by RosieCotton
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To: jasoncann

Nanotech may well be the next new technology. It's already being exploited in materials science and there are lots of products on the market using it, but it just doesn't have funky blinking lights or makes cool whooshing sounds.


22 posted on 01/05/2006 8:56:29 AM PST by doc30 (Democrats are to morals what and Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
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To: jbwbubba
are ye daft man? ye canna mix mater and anti-mater cold.
23 posted on 01/05/2006 8:56:46 AM PST by Vaquero ("An armed society is a polite society" Robert Heinlein)
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To: thoughtomator

I'm not flying to Mars unless they get the flight time down to two hours or less.


24 posted on 01/05/2006 8:57:30 AM PST by Rebelbase (Whew! Another year until the cursed green bean casserole strikes again!)
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To: cvq3842

"Will Howard Dean be the first passenger? Maybe he already made the trip. :)"

Could be, he seems to have gone off the scope since his San Antonio screwup.


25 posted on 01/05/2006 8:57:35 AM PST by knew it all the time
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To: johnandrhonda

"186,000 miles per second..it's not just a good idea, it's the law!"

Not in a vacuum.


26 posted on 01/05/2006 8:58:47 AM PST by Bigh4u2 (Denial is the first requirement to be a liberal)
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To: diznay4evr

"Don't get me wrong, I love that people even entertain ideas like this- but I'll believe it when I see it. Can Nasa even get us to the moon again? I've been hearing about things like this all my life, and I'm still driving in oil powered cars, and using electrical appliances powered by steam engines. (Most power in U.S> generated by coal, oil and even nuke-fired turbine steam engines)
When I see it..."

Let's just hope if they get this thing going they remember their conversion tables between miles and kilometers.


27 posted on 01/05/2006 8:59:00 AM PST by Miles the Slasher
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Comment #28 Removed by Moderator

To: RosieCotton

"Feasible or not, this is kinda interesting."

It is. And travel agents will have to go to scientific calculators to be able to figure frequent flyer miles for their well travelled clients.


29 posted on 01/05/2006 8:59:16 AM PST by Rebelbase (Whew! Another year until the cursed green bean casserole strikes again!)
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To: jbwbubba

If there is anything to this, above and beyond science fiction, we're fooling ourselves if we think that it will be used exclusively for space exploration. This would make for one heck of a rapid deployment force, militarily. Also, the proverbial "slow boat to China" could be replaced with a high speed transport to Siberia, or the Oort Cloud, for that matter ... so, dissidents, watch your mouth, lol.


30 posted on 01/05/2006 8:59:51 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: doc30

That's Prometheus.


31 posted on 01/05/2006 9:00:16 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Brilliant
I don't think that was implied. The speed of light may be faster, but nothing in the article says the vehicle will be travelling at light speed.

Indeed, from the travel times both to Mars and to the nearest star it appears the vehicle accelerates in this alternate universe to the halfway point, flips around and decelerates. While it would never break our lightspeed during a trip to Mars it would on the longer trip to Alpha Centauri.

32 posted on 01/05/2006 9:00:32 AM PST by Junior (Identical fecal matter, alternate diurnal period)
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To: jbwbubba
"If the theory is correct then this is not science fiction, it is science fact," Prof Hauser said.

DOH!

33 posted on 01/05/2006 9:01:10 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: johnandrhonda
186,000 miles per second..it's not just a good idea, it's the law!

Maybe...maybe not

Texas A&M University Physicists Have Devised A Way To Stop Light
Einstein In Need Of Update? Calculations Show The Speed Of Light Might Change

34 posted on 01/05/2006 9:01:28 AM PST by Dan Cooper
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To: Rebelbase
Heh...

Still doesn't make me long for space travel. Claustrophobia takes on a whole new dimension when you really, really can't get out of a ship. Even planes bug me for that reason, but in space? No thanks.

My plan is to wait until everyone else leaves to colonize other planets. Then I'll claim, say, all of Montana.
35 posted on 01/05/2006 9:02:11 AM PST by RosieCotton
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To: Billthedrill

One point twenty-one gigawatts


36 posted on 01/05/2006 9:02:27 AM PST by Ouderkirk (Funny how death and destruction seems to happen wherever Muslims gather...)
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To: jbwbubba

Chances are that if somebody is talking about it...it has already been done a long time ago.

I'm sure our government has a whole bunch of advanced technologies nobody knows about.


37 posted on 01/05/2006 9:02:48 AM PST by Frenetic
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To: canuck_conservative

Do you have an explanation for your one-word reply, or do you simply dismiss any scientific musings out of hand?


38 posted on 01/05/2006 9:03:03 AM PST by Junior (Identical fecal matter, alternate diurnal period)
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To: jbwbubba

The three hours includes a layover in Phoenix.


39 posted on 01/05/2006 9:03:08 AM PST by IronJack
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Comment #40 Removed by Moderator


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