Until
yesterday, every physicist was laughing at this engine and its inventor, Roger
Shawyer. It's called the EmDrive and everyone said it was impossible because it
goes against classical mechanics. But the fact is that the quantum vacuum plasma thruster works and scientists can't explain why.
Shawyer's
engine is extremely light and simple. It provides a thrust by "bouncing
microwaves around in a closed container." The microwaves are generated
using electricity that can be provided by solar energy. No propellant is necessary,
which means that this thrusters can work forever unless a hardware failure
occurs. If real, this would be a major breakthrough in space propulsion
technology.
Obviously,
the entire thing sounded preposterous to everyone. In theory, this thing shouldn't
work at all. So people laughed and laughed and ignored him. Everyone except a
team of Chinese scientists. They built one in 2009 and it worked: They claimed
they were able to produce 720 millinewton, which is reportedly enough to build
a satellite thruster. And still, nobody else believed it.
Now,
American scientist Guido Fetta and a team at NASA Eagleworks—the advanced
propulsion skunkworks led by Dr Harold "Sonny" White at the Johnson
Space Center—have published a new paper that demonstrates that a similar engine
working on the same principles does indeed produce thrust. Their model,
however, produces much less thrust—just 30 to 50 micronewtons. But it works,
which is amazing on its own. They haven't explained why their engine works, but
it does work:
Test
results indicate that the RF resonant cavity thruster design, which is unique
as an electric propulsion device, is producing a force that is not attributable
to any classical electromagnetic phenomenon and therefore is potentially
demonstrating an interaction with the quantum vacuum virtual plasma.
The entire
idea that we have found something that seems to go against the the principle of
conservation of momentum just seems crazy to me. But the fact that it has
worked for two independent parties can't be denied. That's the laboratory
speaking. Then again, perhaps both labs made a mistake. I'm sure this will be
tested by the Russians and the Europeans too, but at least I'm glad we are
working on it.
But the
fact that we may be witnessing something completely new, something that may
push us forward into sci-fi territory once again, is very exciting.
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