K_N Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 http://www.forbes.com/sites/briankoberlein/2016/11/19/nasas-physics-defying-em-drive-passes-peer-review/#33fec11b76e2 For those that are not in the know, the EM drive is a fuel-less propulsion device. Something that basically... should not exist according to the laws of physics as we understand them. But it does. Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal an opposite reaction - and thus there is no reaction without an action. However the EM drive produces thrust - moves itself forward without creating any action at all. It just bounces radio waves around inside a specially designed cavity - purely with electricity, and is somehow able to create a reaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mix Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Maybe it's like the Planet Express Ship engine...it doesn't move at all, it moves the universe around it ... and with that contribution, I shall leave the Science folder and ne'er return Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master-Debater131 Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 Its crazy how this thing souldnt exist, and yet it does. Im not holding my breath that this will somehow change how we view propulsion, but it is something worth keeping an eye on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAC Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 I read a thing about this before, I hope it turns out to be real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neko Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 That's all cool but the last I heard it didn't produce much energy at all...maybe if it was modified for short journeys because it would take a very long time to travel elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Gun Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 In terms of long-distance space travel, it's not always nearly so much about how much you accelerate as it is how long you can continuously accelerate. If the EM Drive's apparent thrust actually holds up in practice, the fact that it doesn't require any reaction mass means that it can accelerate a spacecraft indefinitely, enabling it to eventually reach far greater speeds than a craft using chemical propellant, or even ion drives. Another system of propulsion that doesn't require a reaction mass is the solar sail, which relies on the radiation pressure of the Sun's light to adjust a spacecraft's trajectory and has already been tested. (Seriously though, I'm holding out for an Alcubierre drive.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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