Inter-Galactic and Planetary prime mover

[jon]

New type of engine using arbitrary waveform drive for producing forward motion.....experimental or is it just mental ?

[alan_m]

How is this different from the Infinite Improbability Drive?

[Martin Brown]

Have you tried reversing the polarity of the neutron flux?

[Spike]

Nah, the capacitor might explode.

[Andy Bennet]

A link or it's just a figment of your imagination ...

[Jethro_uk]

Very first thought was "Em-Drive"

[Tim Streater]

Looking at that, not sure why both ends have a hole. Send all the microwave radiation out of one end and you should get a thrust. See:

Read the third para about what is generally accepted as the explanantion for the anomaly - namely that the spacecraft is emitting thermal radiation more in one direction than another.

Of course, the thrust is miniscule.

When you emit radiation like that you should get a thrust as you are sending out photons, which equtes to mass according to Albert.

[Jethro_uk]

There was a brief suggestion - presumably debunked - that the energy was subtly changing the space-time in the cavity and shifting the centre of gravity ever so slightly to create thrust.

I am nowhere near well versed enough in the physics to know if that's even worthy of consideration, but energy has to go somewhere. If not into moving the thing then at least warming it up.

I wonder what the possibilities are of getting to build some sort of base on one side of an asteroid, and fire fusion bombs on the other to create thrust. (Anyone remember Space 1999 ?)

[Steve Walker]

Many years ago one of the well known science fiction writers (I can't recall which) wrote a story involving large "rockets" with massively thick bases, powered by repeatedly dropping and detonating atom bombs under the bases.

[Martin Brown]

Heinlein but it was seriously proposed and examined as Project Orion at one point when it was nuclear ppowered everything in fashion.

Apart from the radioactive fallout it was a plausible scheme.

ISTR there is a video somewhere of a scalemodel mockup powered by dropping conventional high explosives out of the back. Here :

The ones about half way through are as good as it gets!

[Steve Walker]

I did actually think that it was Heinlein, but wasn't sure.

There has always been a huge crossover between science-fiction and real science, so it's not surprising that it was a real proposal.

[Tim Lamb]

Sailing the solar wind has legs but getting back could be a problem.

>

[Tim+]

Tacking. After all, it?s what sailing ships do to go upwind... ;-)

Tim

[Martin Brown]

Many of the toys we have today like communicators and tablets first made their appearance in Star Trek and 2001. Bit short on moon bases as yet.

And there is still no Hilton in Earth orbit.

Though I did manage to visit the original set used for 2001 when it was the Kubrick exhibition at the Design Centre last year. They had many of the models used as well as some of his very exotic lens collection. (and also material from all the other famous films he did)

[Tim Lamb]

I don't think it works without a medium to stop the vessel being pushed sideways. A big keel won't do much in a vacuum.

[Tim+]

Good point. ;-)

Tim

[Vir Campestris]

Sad point.

OTOH we want to go away from this star, then stop when we arrive at the next one...

Andy