Saturday, August 2, 2014
NASA confirms "impossible" EmDrive space engine works (though it doesn't know how)
Internet has allowed for a whole new range of "inventors" to share their "amazing" and "incredible" perpetual motion machines and infinite power generators; and soon we've all grown used to simply dismiss it all as being complete rubbish. That's why most would also say the same regarding a EmDrive space engine, that promises to generate thrust without fuel. An engine that now has been proved to work by NASA - even though they don't yet understand how.
This EmDrive was invented by Roger Sawyer, and as it consists in a closed enclosure where microwaves are bounced around, it was never taken seriously. Most people would say it was impossible for it to generate thrust, as that would violate the laws of physics, though its inventor says otherwise.
From what I understand (and if NASA is struggling to understand it, don't count on me to get it absolutely right), this device is similar to have something moving forward by having trapped inside a close box and running and bumping into one of its wall. On Earth, this would work, as gravity and friction would make the box stay in place was the person inside walked back to the other side for another run and bump to the wall to push it a bit further. But in space, moving backwards and pushing on the opposite side would cancel out the momentum, making it stay in place.
But no so with this EmDrive, that does indeed generate thrust, as shown by an engine built by the Chinese in 2010-12, and that has now been replicated by NASA (which got a lot less power, but enough to say it works, and that is should be explored further.)
With such engines, a spacecraft wouldn't need large fuel tanks, and would be able to accelerate continuously for as much as it wanted, as long as it had a solar power or some other sort of energy source. This could allow for a trip to Mars to be made in weeks rather than months or years, and be the first step in a new era for space exploration.
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