Warp Drive
Moderator
Thread Starter
Warp Drive
This is from the February issue of Aerospace International.
I admit that I really don't have a good grasp of post-Newtonian physics, although I have watched more Star Trek than is probably good for me. Anyhow, there seems to be at-least one serious brain behind this and it could change the aerospace industry out of all recognition....
.... if it works!
Breakthrough in Warp Drive?
A paper published in the New Scientist journal has outlined a concept for a magnetic warp drive which could propel spacecraft to Mars in three hours.
The concept uses an intense magnetic field to create propulsion and could also warp the craft into a parallel dimension to exceed the speed of light allowing interplanetary travel. One of the papers authors, a former head of ESA Aerodynamics, was quoted as saying that a working prototype engine could be built in about five years.
My rational self tells me this is all stuff and nonsense. But by gum I'd love to be wrong.
G
I admit that I really don't have a good grasp of post-Newtonian physics, although I have watched more Star Trek than is probably good for me. Anyhow, there seems to be at-least one serious brain behind this and it could change the aerospace industry out of all recognition....
.... if it works!
Breakthrough in Warp Drive?
A paper published in the New Scientist journal has outlined a concept for a magnetic warp drive which could propel spacecraft to Mars in three hours.
The concept uses an intense magnetic field to create propulsion and could also warp the craft into a parallel dimension to exceed the speed of light allowing interplanetary travel. One of the papers authors, a former head of ESA Aerodynamics, was quoted as saying that a working prototype engine could be built in about five years.
G
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Southeast USA
Posts: 801
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hmmm... I would wonder why someone would postulate that the speed of light in a parallel dimension would be different than it is here? As far as I know either E=mc^2 or it does not.
The only way that what this article might be suggesting may have some validity is that in this parallel dimension the distance to Mars is less than it is in this dimension (and who is to say?? maybe over there it is closer...) and with only a "3-hour tour" (hmmm...set to music would remind me of a skipper, a millionaire and his wife, and a dude named Gilligan...) that distance would have to be pretty darn close. I wonder, does that article talk at all about these parallel dimensions getting off track at all? That could be seriously dangerous.
The only way that what this article might be suggesting may have some validity is that in this parallel dimension the distance to Mars is less than it is in this dimension (and who is to say?? maybe over there it is closer...) and with only a "3-hour tour" (hmmm...set to music would remind me of a skipper, a millionaire and his wife, and a dude named Gilligan...) that distance would have to be pretty darn close. I wonder, does that article talk at all about these parallel dimensions getting off track at all? That could be seriously dangerous.
PPRuNeaholic
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Cairns FNQ
Posts: 3,255
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
And if we assume that a craft could be propelled into a "parallel dimension" for such a journey, what guarantee is there that the craft will be able to escape back into "our" dimension in time to slow down and land gracefully?
If the craft doesn't return to "our" dimension, will it be lost forever?
If it escapes the parallel dimension, will it only be able to stop at the end of a deep smoking hole?
If the craft doesn't return to "our" dimension, will it be lost forever?
If it escapes the parallel dimension, will it only be able to stop at the end of a deep smoking hole?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Psychophysiological entity
You'll get no argument from me. My post on the topic 1st Feb was somewhat er, passionate.
I don't accept parallel universes as anything but an idea, but driving a vessel by latching it to the fabric of space is what I have been writing about for years.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...t=hydrocarbons (8th post down.)
I don't accept parallel universes as anything but an idea, but driving a vessel by latching it to the fabric of space is what I have been writing about for years.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...t=hydrocarbons (8th post down.)
Last edited by Loose rivets; 7th Mar 2006 at 08:26.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: fairly close to the colonial capitol
Age: 55
Posts: 1,693
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think we should fund the research, and if it looks promising, a suitable hull to marry such a drive would seem to be the next design challenge.
Even if hyperdrive speeds prove to be beyond our traveling abilities, perhaps we could throttle the thing into propelling winged aluminum tubes throughout the skies in a comparatively sedate manner.
The possibilities , in a word , G .............. 'Fascinating'
Even if hyperdrive speeds prove to be beyond our traveling abilities, perhaps we could throttle the thing into propelling winged aluminum tubes throughout the skies in a comparatively sedate manner.
The possibilities , in a word , G .............. 'Fascinating'
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Austria
Age: 63
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Als Mars is just 7 to 20 Light Minutes away from earth (depending on relative position of the two planets) it looks to me that the speed of light is considerable slower in that parallel Dimension. 
Moderator
Thread Starter
Still a huge improvement on the usual 9 months there and 18 months back it always came out at when I was studying interplanetary navigation.
On a more technical point, it'll presumably have to accelerate and decelerate - an Mars is only a short hop, you may get much better average speeds to, say, Alpha Centauri. But nonetheless, the acceleration is going to smart a bit!
G
On a more technical point, it'll presumably have to accelerate and decelerate - an Mars is only a short hop, you may get much better average speeds to, say, Alpha Centauri. But nonetheless, the acceleration is going to smart a bit!
G
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
With warp drive though, you do not technically exceed the speed of light, your velocity isn't that quick, your apparent velocity is (because you just did X distance in Y time).
I once heard on some Discovery programme that warp drive can be thought like this;
Take a sheet of A4 paper, at one end put a dot and label it A, at the other end, put a dot and label it B. Now, to get from A to B in a very short time, you would need to traditionally go very fast....ie if Earth was A, and Mars was B, and you wanted to do it in a day, it'd be very fast indeed!
However, if you were to fold the sheet of paper in half (warping space), A would suddenly be much closer to B, so you hop a few millimeters accross from A-B, then unfold the sheet of paper. Your actual velocity and distance traveled was slow and not very far, however, your percieved velocity/distance is great, as you have just gone from A to B very quickly.......this is how the warp drive concept was explained when I heard it.
I have often wondered, not to do with warp drive, but, due to the lack of hydrocarbon fuel in the future, if one could get an aircraft up into the air, and then freeze its position in freespace (gyros maybe), then the earth would rotate normally, and the aircraft would thus appear to travel around the earth (although it has not moved in freespace)...just a thought!
I once heard on some Discovery programme that warp drive can be thought like this;
Take a sheet of A4 paper, at one end put a dot and label it A, at the other end, put a dot and label it B. Now, to get from A to B in a very short time, you would need to traditionally go very fast....ie if Earth was A, and Mars was B, and you wanted to do it in a day, it'd be very fast indeed!
However, if you were to fold the sheet of paper in half (warping space), A would suddenly be much closer to B, so you hop a few millimeters accross from A-B, then unfold the sheet of paper. Your actual velocity and distance traveled was slow and not very far, however, your percieved velocity/distance is great, as you have just gone from A to B very quickly.......this is how the warp drive concept was explained when I heard it.
I have often wondered, not to do with warp drive, but, due to the lack of hydrocarbon fuel in the future, if one could get an aircraft up into the air, and then freeze its position in freespace (gyros maybe), then the earth would rotate normally, and the aircraft would thus appear to travel around the earth (although it has not moved in freespace)...just a thought!
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: England
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I believe all this recent talk of hyperdrive etc is based on this recent research which got a mention in New Scientist back in January...
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...25331.200.html
Quote:
EVERY year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year's winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There's just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics.
Article continues...
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...25331.200.html
Quote:
EVERY year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year's winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There's just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics.
Article continues...
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: England
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by PhilM
I have often wondered, not to do with warp drive, but, due to the lack of hydrocarbon fuel in the future, if one could get an aircraft up into the air, and then freeze its position in freespace (gyros maybe), then the earth would rotate normally, and the aircraft would thus appear to travel around the earth (although it has not moved in freespace)...just a thought!
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: KDEN
Posts: 220
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by PhilM
I have often wondered, not to do with warp drive, but, due to the lack of hydrocarbon fuel in the future, if one could get an aircraft up into the air, and then freeze its position in freespace (gyros maybe), then the earth would rotate normally, and the aircraft would thus appear to travel around the earth (although it has not moved in freespace)...just a thought!
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: north
Posts: 158
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Always fascinating stuff this; mind blowing.
I've always wondered, if it ever becomes possible to distort space/time in this way, how could the precise destination be chosen?
In any case, I suspect the technology is centuries away.
I've always wondered, if it ever becomes possible to distort space/time in this way, how could the precise destination be chosen?
In any case, I suspect the technology is centuries away.
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: ???
Posts: 261
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Imagine the impact it will have on pilot Salaries once the technology is incorporated on the next boeing or Airbus. london to Sydney.. block time = 0.00006 of sec X Hourly flight time rate = S@#t all
however sector pay will be a different story
however sector pay will be a different story