Posted on 02/11/2006 4:31:06 PM PST by PatrickHenry
On Tuesday, Feb. 14, noted physicist Dr. Franklin Felber will present his new exact solution of Einstein's 90-year-old gravitational field equation to the Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF) in Albuquerque. The solution is the first that accounts for masses moving near the speed of light.
New antigravity solution will enable space travel near speed of light by the end of this century, he predicts.
Felber's antigravity discovery solves the two greatest engineering challenges to space travel near the speed of light: identifying an energy source capable of producing the acceleration; and limiting stresses on humans and equipment during rapid acceleration.
"Dr. Felber's research will revolutionize space flight mechanics by offering an entirely new way to send spacecraft into flight," said Dr. Eric Davis, Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin and STAIF peer reviewer of Felber's work. "His rigorously tested and truly unique thinking has taken us a huge step forward in making near-speed-of-light space travel safe, possible, and much less costly."
The field equation of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity has never before been solved to calculate the gravitational field of a mass moving close to the speed of light. Felber's research shows that any mass moving faster than 57.7 percent of the speed of light will gravitationally repel other masses lying within a narrow 'antigravity beam' in front of it. The closer a mass gets to the speed of light, the stronger its 'antigravity beam' becomes.
Felber's calculations show how to use the repulsion of a body speeding through space to provide the enormous energy needed to accelerate massive payloads quickly with negligible stress. The new solution of Einstein's field equation shows that the payload would 'fall weightlessly' in an antigravity beam even as it was accelerated close to the speed of light.
Accelerating a 1-ton payload to 90 percent of the speed of light requires an energy of at least 30 billion tons of TNT. In the 'antigravity beam' of a speeding star, a payload would draw its energy from the antigravity force of the much more massive star. In effect, the payload would be hitching a ride on a star.
"Based on this research, I expect a mission to accelerate a massive payload to a 'good fraction of light speed' will be launched before the end of this century," said Dr. Felber. "These antigravity solutions of Einstein's theory can change our view of our ability to travel to the far reaches of our universe."
More immediately, Felber's new solution can be used to test Einstein's theory of gravity at low cost in a storage-ring laboratory facility by detecting antigravity in the unexplored regime of near-speed-of-light velocities.
During his 30-year career, Dr. Felber has led physics research and development programs for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Department of Energy and Department of Transportation, the National Institute of Justice, National Institutes of Health, and national laboratories. Dr. Felber is Vice President and Co-founder of Starmark.
Source: Starmark [Felber's own firm, apparently]
Good point.
You need a planetary-size mass moving at close to the speed of light.
Give new meaning to the term "Spaceship Earth."
Two words: Oort Cloud
Isn't gravity so weak (compared to electromagnetism and the nuclear forces) that it can be ignored in particle physics?
Maybe F.'s effect only shows when a large mass is moving at 0.57+ c (?)
One word: Plastics.
"Clank..clank... OW OW OW! clank...clank...OW OW OW!!
aaaaah....ziiiiip
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
It gets pretty boring down here sometimes.
L
Isn't that the answer to Reverend Jim, from Taxi's, question...Whaaat does a yellooow lighhht mean?
Dogs and Cats living together!
OK, I didn't see it. Again, yes.
Ah, I knew there must be a catch!
If you're really close to lightspeed, the increase in mass can get very significant. But, when you're dealing with neutrons, multiples of that still aren't much. I just don't know. Still waiting for one of the smart guys to help out.
The dog at least will talk, saying things like "Raht rahl right, Rorge!"
Any word yet on the deceleration techniques? .99c, even if you live almost forever might get boring after a millennia or two
bookmark
How are we going to deal the small particles in space that are unseen from our start point?
I hit bugs going 70mph and I can't imagine hitting a rock getting up to .57c.
It sounds nice in a "clean" vaccum.
"So how do you slow down?"
Just wait until the Lightspeed police pull you over. You'll slow down. The fines are really, really heavy.
"So how do you slow down?"
Just wait until the Lightspeed police pull you over. You'll slow down. The fines are really, really heavy.
Exact Relativistic `Antigravity' Propulsion
- Franklin S. Felber
- Physics Division, Starmark, Inc., P. O. Box 270710, San Diego, CA 92198
The Schwarzschild solution is used to find the exact relativistic motion of a payload in the gravitational field of a mass moving with constant velocity. At radial approach or recession speeds faster than 3–1/2 times the speed of light, even a small mass gravitationally repels a payload. At relativistic speeds, a suitable mass can quickly propel a heavy payload from rest nearly to the speed of light with negligible stresses on the payload. ©2006 American Institute of Physics
One thing to keep in mind, some conferences are easier than others when it comes to letting you present papers, and the rigor of the peer review varies accordingly. This guy might be using conferences that um, "entertain" far-fetched ideas in order to get publicity for his novel notion. I don't know what the reputation is of the conference in question, but the fact that they permit this guy to present his paper is not the same thing as a prestigious peer-reviewed physics journal accepting it ffor publication.
Lastly, I'll point out that this conference, whatever it's merits are, isn't THE conference/symposium that the heavy hitters in Gravitation attend every year. I forget the name of it, but I think Hawking present a paper a couple years ago at "the big one" when it was in Dublin. If this guy has a valid theory that predicts anti-gravity effects, why isn't he presenting his paper and the BIG conference, or in a major peer-reviewed physics publication?
Know I know why I always feel lighter when I walk near a DC circuit.
Even .99c isn't going to do it for you. Time has slowed down on your ship to only 14% of earth time, which will seem like you're living a long span (to the folks back home), and you'll live long enough for an otherwise impossible journey; but to you, subjectively, everything will seem quite normal.
"Now I know."
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