Make it so!: NASA engineers say they successfully tested a real ‘warp drive

NASA has successfully tested a type of drive that could eventually take the concept of “warp drive” from science-fiction to reality, CNET reported.




The experiment, conducted at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, found that an electromagnetic drive, or “EMDrive,” was able to function in a vaccuum — something that even NASA has stated would defy the laws of motion.

The drive works by turning electrical energy into thrust without requiring standard fuel. The electricity is provided instead by solar energy.

According to NASASpaceFlight.com, an engineer with the propulsion research group NASA Eagleworks announced the successful test, touching off a far-reaching discussion about how the drive could violate the law of conservation of momentum, which states that a system’s momentum remains constant if it is not being affected by external forces.

While previous EMDrive experiments from researchers in the United Kingdom and China sparked criticism, NASASpaceFlight reported, the results of Eagleworks’ trial have not yet been debunked. If the drive becomes a reality, however, it could pose immediate benefits for the International Space Station.

“In terms of the Station, propellant-less propulsion could amount to significant savings by drastically reducing fuel resupply missions to the Station and eliminate the need for visiting-vehicle re-boost maneuvers,” the website stated.

NASA touched on the idea of warp drive on its website last month, calling the idea of traveling at light speed “simply imaginary at this point.”

“While NASA is not pursuing interstellar flight, scientists here continue to advance ion propulsion for missions to deep space and beyond using solar electric power. This form of propulsion is the fastest and most efficient to date,” the agency said. “There are many ‘absurd’ theories that have become reality over the years of scientific research. But for the near future, warp drive remains a dream.”

The phrase “warp drive” was brought into the pop culture lexicon by the sci-fi series Star Trek. One of the films spawned by the franchise, Star Trek: First Contact, credited fictional scientist Zefram Cochrane (played by James Cromwell) with developing it, leading to him making contact with the Vulcan race, Earth’s first encounter in that universe with beings from another planet.

According to the fan site Memory Alpha, warp drive “worked by generating warp fields to form a subspace bubble that enveloped the starship, distorting the local spacetime continuum and moving the starship at velocities that could greatly exceed the speed of light.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/make-it-so-nasa-engineers-say-they-successfully-tested-a-real-warp-drive/

sounds more like the enterprise's low power thrusters

“In terms of the Station, propellant-less propulsion could amount to significant savings by drastically reducing fuel resupply missions to the Station and eliminate the need for visiting-vehicle re-boost maneuvers,” the website stated.

As I understand it, warp-drive is a kind of repositioning of timespace--i.e., warping it--so that you put behind you what was once before you. How do we go from this to carrots and french bread to resupply the ISS?

Original Quill wrote:

“In terms of the Station, propellant-less propulsion could amount to significant savings by drastically reducing fuel resupply missions to the Station and eliminate the need for visiting-vehicle re-boost maneuvers,” the website stated.

As I understand it, warp-drive is a kind of repositioning of timespace--i.e., warping it--so that you put behind you what was once before you.  How do we go from this to carrots and french bread to resupply the ISS?

warp-drive moves space around the ship not the ship trough space ......according to scotty so yes if i understand your comment correctly

korban dallas wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

As I understand it, warp-drive is a kind of repositioning of timespace--i.e., warping it--so that you put behind you what was once before you.  How do we go from this to carrots and french bread to resupply the ISS?

warp-drive moves space around the ship not the ship trough space ......according to scotty so yes if i understand your comment correctly

That's my understanding, too. It's simple relativity. Relativity = (or is a substitute for) motion, so that's not too hard to follow. But in that event, shouldn't warp be instantaneous, and not described as a drive? Whatever it is, why does it require time if time is immediately displaced along with space?

Original Quill wrote:

korban dallas wrote:
warp-drive moves space around the ship not the ship trough space ......according to scotty so yes if i understand your comment correctly

That's my understanding, too.  It's simple relativity.  Relativity = (or is a substitute for) motion, so that's not too hard to follow.  But in that event, shouldn't warp be instantaneous, and not described as a drive?  Whatever it is, why does it require time if time is immediately displaced along with space?

i think the best example is the surf pools often found on cruise ships  in that that a surfer dosen`t move relative to the ship, but the water moves relative to the surfer
and it takes time to move that water
remember according to star trek warp 9 is the limit although that has been passed on a few occasions with varying consequences
so if we use the speed of the water as an analogue of space and the surfer (with powered forward movement )as the ship the water could be so fast it actually pushes the surfer back  
instantaneous travel is more like the "heart of gold" and the infinite probability drive, aka a cup of tea and a spoon

another example would be slip streaming we use to do that in the Gemini at sea
also used as a transport propulsion device in andromeda another Gene Roddenberry creation


moving space also negated inertia