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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday November 22 2016, @03:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the that-still-doesn't-mean-it-will-work dept.

After months of speculation and leaked documents, NASA's long-awaited EM Drive paper has finally been peer-reviewed and published [open, DOI: 10.2514/1.B36120] [DX]. And it shows that the 'impossible' propulsion system really does appear to work. The NASA Eagleworks Laboratory team even put forward a hypothesis for how the EM Drive could produce thrust – something that seems impossible according to our current understanding of the laws of physics.

In case you've missed the hype, the EM Drive, or Electromagnetic Drive, is a propulsion system first proposed by British inventor Roger Shawyer back in 1999. Instead of using heavy, inefficient rocket fuel, it bounces microwaves back and forth inside a cone-shaped metal cavity to generate thrust. According to Shawyer's calculations, the EM Drive could be so efficient that it could power us to Mars in just 70 days.

takyon: Some have previously dismissed EmDrive as a photon rocket. This is addressed in the paper along with other possible sources of error:

The eighth [error:] photon rocket force, RF leakage from test article generating a net force due to photon emission. The performance of a photon rocket is several orders of magnitude lower than the observed thrust. Further, as noted in the above discussion on RF interaction, all leaking fields are managed closely to result in a high quality RF resonance system. This is not a viable source of the observed thrust.

[...] The 1.2  mN/kW performance parameter is over two orders of magnitude higher than other forms of "zero-propellant" propulsion, such as light sails, laser propulsion, and photon rockets having thrust-to-power levels in the 3.33–6.67  μN/kW (or 0.0033–0.0067  mN/kW) range.

Previously: NASA Validates "Impossible" Space Drive's Thrust
"Reactionless" Thruster Tested Again, This Time in a Vacuum
Explanation may be on the way for the "Impossible" EmDrive
Finnish Physicist Says EmDrive Device Does Have an Exhaust
EmDrive Peer-Reviewed Paper Coming in December; Theseus Planning a Cannae Thruster Cubesat


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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:11PM (#431285)

    Now excuse me, I need to go grab some popcorn.

    Do you know what kind of science it takes to pop that popcorn? Of course you don't because science can't explain it! Popcorn Creationism for the win!

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:16PM (#431290)

    fuckin magnets how do they work

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @04:46PM (#431323)

      Take apart a vibrator to find out.

    • (Score: 2) by fritsd on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:04PM

      by fritsd (4586) on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:04PM (#431414) Journal

      fuckin microwaves [wikipedia.org] how do they work, and what's the connection between popcorn and VASIMR?!?11?

      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:17PM (#431419)

        Oily lube.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 22 2016, @07:22PM (#431423)

      magnets how do they work

      Simple: Intelligent Attraction.

  • (Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Tuesday November 22 2016, @06:31PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 22 2016, @06:31PM (#431390) Journal
    Popcorn popping is beyond our primitive technology. It's clear evidence of ALIENS whom would have popped our corn for us. I believe this "microwave technology" was salvaged from the Roswell scout ship which no doubt used the technology frequently while the scout meditated on the foibles of primitive humankind.