EM Drive opens up new possibilities for space flight

[Bushido]

can we use it to provide thrust for, say, terrestrial things? could be the solution to our problems about normal cars n stuff too

i mean as long as nobody accidentally overcranks their engines and hurtles off into forgetin space

[Ad Bot]

[Regulith]

can we use it to provide thrust for, say, terrestrial things? could be the solution to our problems about normal cars n stuff too

i mean as long as nobody accidentally overcranks their engines and hurtles off into forgetin space

I don't know about that, but it doesn't actually provide enough thrust by itself to get into orbit

Or at least that's what people have been saying

[Frostbyte]

I can't wait for space cars.

[BluetoothBoy]

can we use it to provide thrust for, say, terrestrial things? could be the solution to our problems about normal cars n stuff too

i mean as long as nobody accidentally overcranks their engines and hurtles off into forgetin space

Maybe not consumer vehicles (at least not at first), but I can see this being useful on things like passenger jets, ships, trains, etc.

[C-Zech Chrome Ind.]

Suicidal rocket drones will be much cheaper to make in large quantities!  Yay!

[TheArmyGuy]

Suicidal rocket drones will be much cheaper to make in large quantities!  Yay!

Stop looking on the downside, this stuff is one of the most important discoveries ever. This will also not work terrestirally, read below.

I don't know about that, but it doesn't actually provide enough thrust by itself to get into orbit

Or at least that's what people have been saying

720 millinewton currently, which is enough to lift 0.075kg/0.2lbs. Sadly the thing itself weighs a crapton more than that so it only works once in orbit, yes.

Maybe not consumer vehicles (at least not at first), but I can see this being useful on things like passenger jets, ships, trains, etc.

Occams razor, why would you first convert electricity into microwaves that then bounce against something if youy can just use it to power train wheels directly at higher efficiency? Ships same thing, a lot more efficient to just use an electric engine. Same with plane propellors. This is only really useful because it only requires electicity, which is readily available in space via solar panels; it's really just so you have infinite low amp power (via solar panels or RTG's) compared to a limited amount of high amp power (lithium batteries, catenary wire for trains).

So this is pretty useless for terrestrial stuff. I'd say it's possible, but so is making a car that's powered by burning wood. It's horribly inefficient and may be something more of a gimmick than useful.

[Foxscotch]

I don't know about that, but it doesn't actually provide enough thrust by itself to get into orbit
Or at least that's what people have been saying

I don't think it's particularly likely that we're gonna find anything better than regular rockets, when it comes to getting into orbit

[TheArmyGuy]

I don't think it's particularly likely that we're gonna find anything better than regular rockets, when it comes to getting into orbit

spas elevatr

[alylt3]

I don't know about that, but it doesn't actually provide enough thrust by itself to get into orbit

Or at least that's what people have been saying

Does that mean it actually works better in a vacuum?

[TheArmyGuy]

Does that mean it actually works better in a vacuum?

The chamber itself is always a vacuum to resolve any resistance; the problem is that currently it's force output is so low it can barely overcome air friction in the environment at any decent speed. So it's only useful in a vacuum.

[Rockinboy2000]

the fact that this type of technology is actually in a way working at its only 2015 is so loving exciting

[Ipquarx]

spas elevatr

asteroids

[SeventhSandwich]

I'm hedging the odds of this being an experimental error versus a violation of the law of momentum as around 20:1.

Sorry, that's just how it turns out most of the time. I'll be happy if I'm wrong though.

[TheArmyGuy]

Physics always loses. If the engine does work we need to reconsider physics but we have the engine, if it doesn't work physics still works but we don't have the engine.

[Foxscotch]

asteroids

and seismic activity