Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip IAN JOHNSTON SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.
The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
::cough:: Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Sorry, didn't see it.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, it had slipped to page 3, so it would have been fairly easy to miss. It's definitely an interesting topic, and well worth posting.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Pssh... its bs. The physics behind it are unproven, and there is little evidense for the theory. And they're gonna have a hell of a time proving it. There are so many asumptions in it that, by modern accepted physical standards, are at best unproven and at worst total crackpot bs.
For example: the assumption that a large enough electromagnetic field will translate into a large gravitational field.
If that assumption proves to be true it'd be an enormous breakthrough in physics. Evidense that all the various field forces are one in the same is something that physicists have been looking for for years. They got magnatism and electricity, but they haven't gotten gravity. And many physicist at this point are of the opinion that they never will.
Even if they manage to unify gravity with the other fields, they're assuming that it'll be controllable and practical. It may very well require more electrical power than we are capable of producing. Making it totally impractical.
Finally, they have the assumption that a large enough gravity well will 1) provide acceleration and 2) pull the craft into another form of space time with a faster speed of light with out killing all those aboard and destroying the craft. In the article they mention blackholes as an example of gravity warping space time. Blackholes destory anything that gets near them.
Its total bs. Don't get your hopes up. If they manage it I'll be thrilled, but they won't.
If you want real working space drives that might actually take us some where then take a look at the VASIMR. VASIMR stands for Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket. In short: its a plasma rocket. The theory behind it is proven, and they had a mostly working prototype in a vacuum test facility here on Earth (it only works in a vacuum). They're still working all the bugs out of it (going from theory to working machine is always a rough ride), but its looking very promising.