Show Posts
31
Off Topic / EM Drive opens up new possibilities for space flight
« on: April 30, 2015, 07:18:14 PM »
Everyone's favorite physical lawbreaker from last year, the EM Drive, recently went through some tests that have eliminated a lot of doubts about its usefulness.
If you haven't heard of it, the Electromagnetic (EM) Drive is an experimental thrust module that has been undergoing research and tests for several years, due to its seemingly physics-breaking capabilities. It turns electrical energy into microwaves, which bounce around in a container to generate thrust...which sounds like complete bullstuff science you'd find on a "troll physics" image, and that's exactly why the science community is so interested in it: because the law of conservation of momentum says it shouldn't work. It was assumed that outside forces must be affecting it in some way, and yet after being tested just recently by NASA in a vacuum, it performed exactly the same.
Such a concept could have a huge impact on space flight and technology. The International Space Station could be kept in orbit with less cost and effort by easily counteracting orbital decay. Satellites could be smaller and fuel-less. A ship could reach the moon in as little as 4 hours, Mars in 70 days, and Alpha Centauri in 130 years (the last of which may sound like a lot, but our current level of propulsion technology would require a few thousand years to make the trip) traveling at 9.4% the speed of light.
And speaking of the speed of light, this research may have also found a lead in warp drive technology...
tl;dr -- Seemingly impossible propulsion system actually works in a vacuum, is far superior to what we've got now
This should all be taken with a grain of salt but I can't help getting super hyped.
If you haven't heard of it, the Electromagnetic (EM) Drive is an experimental thrust module that has been undergoing research and tests for several years, due to its seemingly physics-breaking capabilities. It turns electrical energy into microwaves, which bounce around in a container to generate thrust...which sounds like complete bullstuff science you'd find on a "troll physics" image, and that's exactly why the science community is so interested in it: because the law of conservation of momentum says it shouldn't work. It was assumed that outside forces must be affecting it in some way, and yet after being tested just recently by NASA in a vacuum, it performed exactly the same.
Such a concept could have a huge impact on space flight and technology. The International Space Station could be kept in orbit with less cost and effort by easily counteracting orbital decay. Satellites could be smaller and fuel-less. A ship could reach the moon in as little as 4 hours, Mars in 70 days, and Alpha Centauri in 130 years (the last of which may sound like a lot, but our current level of propulsion technology would require a few thousand years to make the trip) traveling at 9.4% the speed of light.
And speaking of the speed of light, this research may have also found a lead in warp drive technology...
tl;dr -- Seemingly impossible propulsion system actually works in a vacuum, is far superior to what we've got now
This should all be taken with a grain of salt but I can't help getting super hyped.
