NASA Validates 'Impossible' Space Drive - Thruster with No Propellant

[Nehkara]

NASA Validates 'Impossible' Space Drive

NASA is a major player in space science, so when a team from the agency this week presents evidence that "impossible" microwave thrusters seem to work, something strange is definitely going on. Either the results are completely wrong, or NASA has confirmed a major breakthrough in space propulsion.

However, a US scientist, Guido Fetta, has built his own propellant-less microwave thruster, and managed to persuade NASA to test it out. The test results were presented on July 30 at the 50th Joint Propulsion Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Astonishingly enough, they are positive.

"Test results indicate that the RF resonant cavity thruster design, which is unique as an electric propulsion device, is producing a force that is not attributable to any classical electromagnetic phenomenon and therefore is potentially demonstrating an interaction with the quantum vacuum virtual plasma."

The upshot of this is that it could radically improve satellites. Currently up to half the launch mass of a satellite is on-board propellant and it eventually runs out, rendering the satellite essentially space junk.

A propellant-less thruster would allow for much less expensive satellite launches and would extend the lifespan of satellites.

As noted at the bottom of the article it could have a significant impact on other aspects of space flight as well.

I highly recommend reading the article as it is very interesting.

[Tyler]

[GoinAllTheWay]

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wtf??

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

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wtf??

Mind=blown

[photon]

I'm still highly skeptical as fooling scientists isn't impossible or even difficult depending on the scenario. Hopefully they build a test platform and launch it up and verify it's an actual phenomenon and not something that they're missing (like the faster than light neutrinos).

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by photon

I'm still highly skeptical as fooling scientists isn't impossible or even difficult depending on the scenario. Hopefully they build a test platform and launch it up and verify it's an actual phenomenon and not something that they're missing (like the faster than light neutrinos).

This will be the next step.

That said, this is apparently at least the third time a propellant-less thruster has been successfully tested.

It is by far the most notable this time because it is NASA.

It sounds like they don't really understand the phenomenon but it works.

I agree that they should build one of these things and attach it to a small satellite and see if it works in practice.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

It sounds like they don't really understand the phenomenon but it works.

It's like Rogaine.

[photon]

http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/...rives-just-yet

The NASA report wasn't much help either, since it only delved into the practicalities of testing one of the devices. At first glance, however, it looked quite interesting, stating, "Approximately 30-50 micro-Newtons of thrust were recorded from an electric propulsion test article." If you push a bit further, it looks much less promising:

In other words, the negative control in the experiment worked. Which means that the experiment as a whole tells you nothing. Clearly, the device (even when disabled) appears to produce a force. But Lee suggested a variety of ways that this could happen and indicated that there are ways to monitor the device's operation to see if any of them play a role (for example, he suggested that a mass imbalance of as little as 3 mg could account for the small force the NASA researchers found. "All in all," Lee concluded, "it will take a lot more information before we can judge whether the thrust is really a thrust or not."

[ricosuave]

I bet his friends call him "Boba"