Nasa might have successfully tested a warp drive, could carry people at speeds as fast as light
Nasa might have successfully tested a warp drive, could
carry people at speeds as fast as light
Mysterious comments on a forum for space flight fanatics
could be a clue to secret Nasa technology
By Andrew Griffin
Thursday 30 April 2015
Nasa may have successfully tested a form of space flight
that could carry people to the moon in a few short hours — and eventually let
us fly at speeds approaching that of light.
The agency has built an electromagnetic (EM) drive, using
technology that shouldn’t be possible in current understanding of physics,
according to users on forum NASASpaceFlight.com. Some of those discussing the
plan claim to be Nasa engineers that are currently working on the plan — and
have been verified as such, according to Cnet.
While the technology behind EM drives has been
demonstrated before, the results have been disputed by some who don’t believe
that it could work. But a controlled demonstration in conditions like those in
space could be enough to begin the work to prove that the project could be used
in practice.
Though the technology has been discussed in great length
and detail on the forum and elsewhere, it is yet to undergo any peer review and
the results of the recent Nasa experiments have not been released publicly.
The device works by propelling objects through space by
using magnets to create microwaves, which are then sent through a device to
create thrust. If it works, it could overcome the need to carry fuel for
propulsion — a huge problem that limits the speed and distance that those
journeying in space can travel.
To work, the spacecraft that carried it would need to
carry a nuclear power plant to create the energy required to travel through
space.
Nasa's official site says that: "There are many
'absurd' theories that have become reality over the years of scientific
research.". "But for the near future, warp drive remains a
dream," it writes in a post updated last month.
According to the forum users, the technology has been
tested at the Johnson Space Center. In 2014, Nasa verified that the claims of
Roger Shawyer, who invented the technology, did seem to be true. But those
tests took place using low power and not in the kinds of space-like environment
that the new testing seems to have been done in.
Speaking to Cnet, one of the scientists involved in the
project said that it was looking to release Nasa from the problems of having to
build and carry rockets.
"My work at Eagleworks (the lab at JSC where the EM
drive is being tested) is just a continuation of my work tackling the
fundamental problem that has been hindering manned spaceflight from the
termination of the Apollo moon program,” said Paul March. “That being the
availability of a robust and cost-effective power and propulsion technology
that can break us loose from the shackles of the rocket equation."
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