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[Cookie18]

http://io9.com/new-test-suggests-nasas-impossible-em-drive-will-work-1701188933

Holy shit.

From the iO9 article:

Last year, NASA’s advanced propulsion research wing made headlines by announcing the successful test of a physics-defying electromagnetic drive, or EM drive. Now, this futuristic engine, which could in theory propel objects to near-relativistic speeds, has been shown to work inside a space-like vacuum.

NASA Eagleworks made the announcement quite unassumingly via NASASpaceFlight.com. There’s also a major discussion going on about the engine and the physics that drives it at the site’s forum.

The EM drive is controversial in that it appears to violate conventional physics and the law of conservation of momentum; the engine, invented by British scientist Roger Sawyer, converts electric power to thrust without the need for any propellant by bouncing microwaves within a closed container. So, with no expulsion of propellant, there’s nothing to balance the change in the spacecraft’s momentum during acceleration. Hence the skepticism.

The trouble with this theory, however, is that it might not work in a closed vacuum. After last year’s tests of the engine, which weren’t performed in a vacuum, skeptics argued that the measured thrust was attributable to environmental conditions external to the drive, such as natural thermal convection currents arising from microwave heating.

The recent experiment, however, addressed this concern head-on, while also demonstrating the engine’s potential to work in space.

Implications of the drive:

It’s still early days, but the implications are mind-boggling to say the least. A full-fledged EM drive could be used on everything from satellites working in low Earth orbit, to missions to the Moon, Mars, and the outer solar system.

EM drives could also be used on multi-generation spaceships for interstellar travel. A journey to Alpha Centauri, which is “just” 4.3 light-years away, suddenly wouldn’t be so daunting. An EM drive working under a constant one milli-g acceleration would propel a ship to about 9.4% the speed of light, resulting in a total travel time of 92 years. But that’s without the need for deceleration; should we wish to make a stop at Alpha Centauri, we’d have to add another 38 years to the trip. Not a big deal by any extent of the imagination.

Here are the direct quotes from the NASA forum.

[T]he EM Drive’s thrust was due to the Quantum Vacuum (the quantum state with the lowest possible energy) behaving like propellant ions behave in a MagnetoHydroDynamics drive (a method electrifying propellant and then directing it with magnetic fields to push a spacecraft in the opposite direction) for spacecraft propulsion.

The NASASpaceflight.com group has given consideration to whether the experimental measurements of thrust force were the result of an artifact. Despite considerable effort within the NASASpaceflight.com forum to dismiss the reported thrust as an artifact, the EM Drive results have yet to be falsified.

After consistent reports of thrust measurements from EM Drive experiments in the US, UK, and China – at thrust levels several thousand times in excess of a photon rocket, and now under hard vacuum conditions – the question of where the thrust is coming from deserves serious inquiry.

And the link to the article posted on the NASA forum:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/evaluating-nasas-futuristic-em-drive/

 

[Trojita]

We've done it guys!

 

[Orbis Tabula]

Dammit. I gonna owe my brother some money.

But, whatever. Good for humanity, I guess. Woo.

Fuck this shit.

 

[gutshot]

 

[TheGreatDirector]

SOON.

 

[danwarb]

One-quarter impulse power.

 

[Wreav]

The best quote from the article io9 references:

Mr. Joosten and Dr. White stated that “a one-way, non-decelerating trip to Alpha Centauri under a constant one milli-g acceleration” from an EM drive would result in an arrival speed of 9.4 percent the speed of light and result in a total transit time from Earth to Alpha Centauri of just 92 years.

 

[Battersea Power Station]

The best quote from the article io9 references:

Could we detect a radio signal back from a potential probe sent that far? So, 94 years there + 4 years for the data to come back: not too bad. Hopefully my grandchildren are astrophysicists and get some cool info back from there.

 

[bobbytkc]

If is is true, then that Dr Yang who first did the experiment in 2008 surely deserves a nobel prize for this.

This can change humanity.

 

[The Elite]

This just keeps getting better and better.

I am waiting for everything to come crashing down.

 

[Random17]

Still waiting on a peer review, as AFAIK many physicists are still very skeptical.

 

[ilium]

Holy shit.

If this really works it will change everything.

 

[The Technomancer]

I'm still skeptical. Interested, but skeptical.

 

[bobbytkc]

Still waiting on a peer review, as AFAIK many physicists are still very skeptical.

Skepticism is good, but the experiment has been repeated by several different groups by now.

I am hopeful.

Also, physics that nobody understands is a very , very good thing for the scientific community. I'd imagine many physicists are salivating already.

 

[gutshot]

http://io9.com/new-test-suggests-nasas-impossible-em-drive-will-work-1701188933

Holy shit.

From the iO9 article:








Implications of the drive:



Here are the direct quotes from the NASA website.

It should be noted that NASASpaceFlight.com is not an official NASA site. More like a NASA fan site/forum.

 

[Van]

How come I have feeling some government won't let this happen:/

 

[Mohonky]

My Alien brethren, I will see you soon.

 

[Cookie18]

It should be noted that NASASpaceFlight.com is not an official NASA site. More like a NASA fan site/forum.

Thanks for pointing that out, I edited the OP.

 

[mercenar1e]

An additional 38 years just to come to a stop at Alpha Centauri? Damn.

 

[The Elite]

How come I have feeling some government won't let this happen:/

Why wouldn't they?

 

[Neo C.]

How come I have feeling some government won't let this happen:/

No matter what, in Musk we trust!

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

The best quote from the article io9 references:

Welp, time to start building a space colony and send it that way.

 

[Sephzilla]

This could be huge

 

[theepicoftyler]

How come I have feeling some government won't let this happen:/

This seems like an odd concern. Why?

 

[Mengy]

Damn, talk about awesome news!!! I hope we can figure out why this works before I die...

 

[Mindwipe]

If is is true, then that Dr Yang who first did the experiment in 2008 surely deserves a nobel prize for this.

This can change humanity.

If this pans out we're probably going to have to invent some new prizes to give him, never mind the Nobel.

 

[bobbytkc]

How come I have feeling some government won't let this happen:/

Quite the opposite. If this is true, the major economies of the world will be rushing to build it and accelerate the process .

 

[Cookie18]

If this pans out we're probably going to have to invent some new prizes to give him, never mind the Nobel.

This.

 

[Fragamemnon]

This test proves that the thrust wasn't due to convection, but there's still a lot more science to be done here. Specifically control tests, more control tests, and yah more control tests.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

This is incredible, I hope this all pans out.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

The best quote from the article io9 references:

If that quote is true and my math isn't as bad as I think it is wouldn't that mean travel time to Pluto would theoretically be reduced to approximately .0131 years? If so...damn.

 

[Mango The Magician]

92 years? :L

Still sounds awesome.

 

[bobbytkc]

This test proves that the thrust wasn't due to convection, but there's still a lot more science to be done here. Specifically control tests, more control tests, and yah more control tests.

Well, let the scientific method do its work. This, together with fusion reactors and recent developments in quantum computing make the future makes this one interesting period to live in.

 

[The Elite]

92 years? :L

Still sounds awesome.

In Star Trek terms this would be the Impulse Engine.

It's great for local transport but to get to another star system you still want some sort of warp drive.

 

[theepicoftyler]

I have a question that someone with a better understanding of spaceflight and the structure of space could hopefully answer.

Is the density of micro-meteorites and other small particles so low that we could ever conceivably travel at percentages of the speed of light? I feel like a spacecraft moving at 10% the speed of light would get torn to shreds traveling through a solar system.

 

[ahoyhoy]

92 years? :L

Still sounds awesome.

By the time we send manned missions to every corner of our solar system using this EM technology, we may very well have developed a better technology that could cut the trip time down.

Probably won't happen in our lifetimes, but still pretty exciting. We could theoretically send a probe out in the direction of Voyager and pass it in only a couple years.

 

[3phemeral]

92 years? :L

Still sounds awesome.

This is forgetting the need to stop. Calculating that into the trajectory would be additional 32 years.

[edit] Misread: I should have just quoted the article:

An EM drive working under a constant one milli-g acceleration would propel a ship to about 9.4% the speed of light, resulting in a total travel time of 92 years. But that’s without the need for deceleration; should we wish to make a stop at Alpha Centauri, we’d have to add another 38 years to the trip. Not a big deal by any extent of the imagination."

 

[bobbytkc]

If that quote is true and my math isn't as bad as I think it is wouldn't that mean travel time to Pluto would theoretically be reduced to approximately .0131 years? If so...damn.

You need to speed up first, so it will tke considerable longer.

The thrust isn't that great, the key is that it can be switched on indefinitely so long as you have energy.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Using the math that they did for an Alpha Centauri trip, with deceleration, how fast could we get a ship to Mars with this drive? Europa?

 

[Wreav]

This is forgetting the need to stop. Calculating that into the trajectory would be additional 32 years.

stopping is overrated

Using the math that they did for an Alpha Centauri trip, with deceleration, how fast could we get a ship to Mars with this drive? Europa?

I remember reading at some point 28 days or so to mars.

 

[m3k]

This shit cray

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

This is what the "you had my curiosity" gif was made for.

 

[ilium]

So how long would it take to reach the Asteroid belt?

This could potentially end resource scarcity on earth right?

 

[-Horizon-]

But will it fix getting a boner in space? That is what we should really be figuring out about space travel.

 

[gutshot]

Using the math that they did for an Alpha Centauri trip, with deceleration, how fast could we get a ship to Mars with this drive? Europa?

It's in the article:

With this design, a mission to Mars would result in a 70-day transit from Earth to the red planet, a 90-day stay at Mars, and then another 70-day return transit to Earth.

For such a mission, such as a crewed flight to the outer planets – specifically, a Titan/Enceladus mission at Saturn – an EM Drive would allow for a 9-month transit period from Earth to Saturn, a 6-month in-situ mission at Titan, another 6-month in-situ mission at Enceladus, and a 9-month return trip to Earth. This would result in a total mission duration of just 32 months.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

Fund NASA now you dumb congress fucks.

 

[Amentallica]

We need to start tapping into wormholes and taking shortcuts through space. Bend that muffucka.

 

[3phemeral]

stopping is overrated



I remember reading at some point 28 days or so to mars.

I misread. It's supposed to be an additional 38 years to slow down.

An EM drive working under a constant one milli-g acceleration would propel a ship to about 9.4% the speed of light, resulting in a total travel time of 92 years. But that’s without the need for deceleration; should we wish to make a stop at Alpha Centauri, we’d have to add another 38 years to the trip. Not a big deal by any extent of the imagination."

 

[JustenP88]

If that quote is true and my math isn't as bad as I think it is wouldn't that mean travel time to Pluto would theoretically be reduced to approximately .0131 years? If so...damn.

Is that Earth to Pluto in like 8 hours or am I terrible at math?

EDIT: Deceleration. Duh. Still, this is amazing.

 

[pulsemyne]

How come I have feeling some government won't let this happen:/

You must be joking. There's a ton of money to made out in space. Lots of asteriods with rare earth elements exist. Being able to go out and mine them and bring the stuff back quickly is very profitable. It's also very useful for the construction of things like space stations when you can zip around the local solar system and collect the raw materials needed from there. You also have the capabilty for long term, far flung settlements having no problems with supplies.
The EM drive would solve a huge amount of issues with local space travel. It would be cheap, efficient and fast. All the things you need. Being able to go one tenth the speed of light is not to be sniffed at. Earth to mars would only take a few weeks or months compared to the several years it takes now.