Did nasa just accidentally discover warp driveem drive. I say almost to hedge my bets, but i dont expect to make a retraction any time soon. Media reports have asserted that nasa may have discovered warp drive and em drive. The alcubierre warp field and anti matter 2020 youtube. Nasa scientists are working with smallscale models in an effort to produce localized distortions in space, but this new aussie. Abstract it is shown how, within the framework of general relativity and without the intro. Nasa glenns marc millis, who has taken a break from project management for nasa s breakthrough propulsion physics bpp project to return to conducting research, offers this assessment of the prospects for achieving the propulsion breakthroughs that would enable such farfuture visions of interstellar travel. In a sense, this is very similar to the geometry of a gravitational waves, but imagine a craft sitting in the middle of it.
The nasa research team have some very specific and controlled steps to take to create a proof of concept, to see if the physics of the. Harold white has built an interferometer to try and measure a warp bubble. Nasas warp drive concept this is the future, people. Last year, it was revealed that nasa has a warp drive program lead by harold white. An explanation of the alcubierrefroning warp drive part ii. Little is known about the interactions between massive particles and the alcubierre warp drive, or the e. There, the scientists have setup a mini warpdrive called whitejuday. Nasa scientists are working with smallscale models in an effort to produce localized distortions in. Alcubierre drive plural alcubierre drives a hypothetical means of fasterthanlight propulsion, based on the controlled contraction and expansion of surrounding space. Mar 02, 2018 the paper explores the possibility of simulating some features of warp drive. But as it seems, my variation did involve a separation medium. In fact, the idea of a warp drive is still, in scientific terms.
Warp drives may come with a killer downside universe today. Forget blowing bubbles, nasa may be on the path to discovering warp bubbles that. The idea comes from the work published by miguel alcubierre in 1994. Consider also that nasa has taken the alcubierre drive seriously enough to fund related projects at their advanced propulsion physics laboratory. Nasa scientists now think that the famous warp drive concept is a realistic possibility, and that in the far future humans could regularly travel faster than the speed of light. An alcubierre drive is a theoretical and i mean very theoretical device that would enable faster than light travel without specifically breaking relativity. In physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive. Nasa one of the reasons for this is because this method would not. A warp ship would at least have a donut shaped, fat ring, all warp ships would have them, since the thin rings require more power to generate the warp field. However, with the alcubierre drive, it would take a little under five months. An explanation of the alcubierrefroning warp drive part. Alcubierre warp drive and light speed spacebattles forums.
By trekky0623 at english wikipedia transferred from en. Traveling faster than light has always been attributed to science fiction, but that all changed when harold white and his team at nasa started to work on and tweak the alcubierre drive. It does this by moving the space around a craft rather than moving the craft itself. Jan 20, 2017 artists concept of a spacecraft using an alcubierre warp drive. Nasa images solar system collection ames research center. Since your local spacetime is never travelling at the speed of light or beyond so no laws of relativity are being broken. The alcubierre warp field as described by miguel alcubierre would help us surpass the speed of light many times which means that if we had a ship that could go 10 times the speed of light, it. There are many absurd theories that have become reality over the years of scientific research. Jun 11, 2014 for years, harold sonny white has been delving into the technical details of a concept known as the alcubierre warp drive as part of his job at nasa s johnson space center. On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the einstein field equations, specifically how space, time and.
Everett department of physics and astronomy, tufts university, medford, massachusetts 02155 received 14 september 1995. In 1994, a mexican physicist by the name of miguel alcubierre came up with a proposal for stretching the fabric of spacetime in a way which would, theoretically, permit ftl travel. This program uses the second approach to space travel, bending space and time. In one of my interstellar mod games i went to moho using the inertial fusion engine and had ridiculous amounts of deltav, so i decided to make the return by leaving retrograde, cancelling all of the planets rotational velocity. While the mechanics work with einsteins general theory of. Jun, 2014 the idea comes from the work published by miguel alcubierre in 1994. Nasa discusses its warp drive research, prepares to create.
White and colleagues are looking to practically prove the concept of warp drive by lab experiments. If you would like to know more about the theories of interstellar flight, you should visit the tau zero foundation. The following is a nasa list of publications on space warp drivers. Alcubierrewhite warp drive energy consumption physics. Mar 01, 2012 luckily for vulcans, tatooinians and any acquaintances on kepler 22b, the alcubierre warp drive is still very much theoretical.
Astronomy sleek ship nestled at the center of two enormous rings, which create the warp. Nasa one of the reasons for this is because this method would not rely on moving faster than light in the local sense. For those of us who have a mental breakdown on 10 hour plane. Harold sonny white nasa johnson space center 2101 nasa parkway, mc ep4 houston, tx 77058 email. The apollo program and the chinese treasure fleets. Nasas faster than warp drive project keeps star trek. Luckily for vulcans, tatooinians and any acquaintances on kepler 22b, the alcubierre warp drive is still very much theoretical. Feb 16, 2017 a simple explanation of how a real warp drive could work asteronx in this video we discuss how warp drives work. But the biggest news of all is that white and his nasa team are designing laboratory experiments that will, hopefully, form the foundations for a. The alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional spacetime h.
Nasa has quietly, and successfully, tested an electromagnetic em drive in a spacelike vacuum. May 01, 2015 nasa has quietly, and successfully, tested an electromagnetic em drive in a spacelike vacuum. Artists concept of a spacecraft using an alcubierre warp drive. Pdf an examination of warp theory and technology to determine. Jan 19, 2017 in physics, it is what is known as the alcubierre warp drive. For years, harold sonny white has been delving into the technical details of a concept known as the alcubierre warp drive as part of his job at nasas johnson space center.
Marc millis, a former nasa glenn physicist, founded the organization to. In 2010, nasa physicist harold white revealed that he and a team were working on a design for this fasterthanlight ship, and this is the most recent design of what such a ship might actually look like. White explains the theoretical basis for the whitejuday warp field interferometer. Nasa s warp drive concept this is the future, people. Is the alcubierrefroning drive a legitimate possibility for.
When it comes to ship design, function over form is the way to go. Quantum thruster physics could help make warp drive a. Genk, american institute of physics, melville, new york, 2006. Pbs space time is the alcubierre warp drive possible. In the star trek tv series and movies the starship uss enterprise could travel faster than light by engaging its. Here, using fluid dynamic analogues, solutions of einsteins equations of general relativitygr that describe spacetime distortions and stresses caused by an acceleratingvehicle are replaced by solutions of the navier stokes ns equations of. Nasa glenns marc millis, who has taken a break from project management for nasas breakthrough propulsion physics bpp project to return to conducting research, offers this assessment of the prospects for achieving the propulsion breakthroughs that would enable such farfuture visions of interstellar travel. The alcubierre warp drive is a very interesting arena for thought experiments to try to better understand general relativity and quantum field theory, but it should give you zero hope for actually. The canonical form of the alcubierre warp drive metric is considered to gain insight. York time is measure of expansion contraction of space. His version of a warp drive is based on the observation that, though light can only travel at a maximum speed of 186,000 miles. Will the alcubierre drive proposed by miguel alcubierre. Alcubierre is known for the proposed alcubierre drive, a speculative warp drive by which a spacecraft could achieve fasterthanlight travel.
Wormhole travel as envisioned by les bossinas for nasa. Warp drives might be more realistic than thought wired. Here is a report of nasa research on the drive last year, sonny white revealed a new design pictured top for the alcubierre drive that reduces the energy requirement from the total massenergy of a planet the size of jupiter, down to the massenergy of voyager1 700 kilograms. Some are calling the propulsion system a warp drive for its incredible potential speeds, although researchers say it falls short of fasterthanlight travel.
Tbd tiptree tourapollo translation urania vogel writers of the future zajdel. Nasas faster than warp drive project st johnson space center. The alcubierre drive, alcubierre warp drive, or alcubierre metric referring to metric tensor is a speculative idea based on a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity as proposed by theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent fasterthanlight travel if a configurable energydensity field lower than that of vacuum that is. The paper explores the possibility of simulating some features of warp drive. Before we jump into this, you should know that a number of scientists are currently researching the feasibility of warp drive and emdrive and a number of other modes of faster than light travel. The photo showing astronaut aldrin driving core tube 5 into the lunar surface nasa photo as 11405963 also shows the light and. Proposed by mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre in 1994, the drive would propel a ship at superluminal speeds by creating a bubble of negative energy around it, expanding space and. An oddity in the alcubierre drive physics stack exchange. Nasa is currently working on the first practical field test toward the possibility of faster than light travel. Alcubierre claims he was watching star trek and got inspired asking the question if the warp drive in science fiction series and movies could be supported in some way in physics. A simple explanation of how a real warp drive could work asteronx in this video we discuss how warp drives work. Nov 16, 2012 the alcubierre drive is, of course, still highly speculative.
Department of physics and astronomy, university of wales, college of cardi. The alcubierre drive is, of course, still highly speculative. On paper, it is a highly speculative, but possibly valid, solution of the einstein field equations. Unfortunately, coverage of that nasa press release has been along the lines of book your tickets now, rockets are going to obsolete by next year. Sep 24, 2012 but the biggest news of all is that white and his nasa team are designing laboratory experiments that will, hopefully, form the foundations for a practical solution to building a warp drive. A future starship is now possible, based on current research at nasa from the ideas of theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre. The alcubierre warp drive is a very interesting arena for thought experiments to try to better understand general relativity and quantum field theory. So although part of this article is simply, oh my gosh, look at this. Nasa scientists are performing experiments that could help make warp drive a possibility sometime in the future from a lab built for the apollo program at nasas johnson space center in houston.
The alcubierre warp drive in higher dimensional spacetime. A warp drive is a theoretical superluminal spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction. On a floating tabletop inside a seismically isolated room deep within the sprawling johnson space center, birthplace of the apollo moon. Nasa tests warp drive in vacuum, breaks laws of physics. Named after theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre. Davis2 15231 pilgrim oaks lane, league city, tx 77573, usa 2inst. There, the scientists have setup a mini warp drive called whitejuday. In a paper titled warp field mechanics 101 pdf, dr. Nasa discusses its warp drive research, prepares to create a. The alcubierre warp drive allows a spaceship to travel at an arbitrarily large global velocity by deforming the spacetime in a bubble around the spaceship.
The painful truth about nasas warp drive spaceship from a. Here, using fluid dynamic analogues, solutions of einsteins equations of general relativitygr that describe spacetime distortions and stresses caused by an acceleratingvehicle are replaced by solutions of the navier stokes ns. Aug 20, 20 the nasa research team have some very specific and controlled steps to take to create a proof of concept, to see if the physics of the alcubierre warp drive actually play out in practice. But for the near future, warp drive remains a dream. Is the alcubierrefroning drive a legitimate possibility. Alcubierre recently exhibited a spacetime which, within the framework of general relativity, allows travel at. The original author of the warp drive metric, miguel alcubierre, is a huge star trek fan w. The alcubierre drive, alcubierre warp drive, or alcubierre metric referring to metric tensor is a speculative idea based on a solution of einsteins field equations in general relativity as proposed by mexican theoretical physicist miguel alcubierre, by which a spacecraft could achieve apparent fasterthanlight travel if a configurable. Aug 21, 20 nasa scientists are performing experiments that could help make warp drive a possibility sometime in the future from a lab built for the apollo program at nasas johnson space center in houston. Inspired by gene roddenberrys star trek, physicist miguel alcubierre set out to transform one of the cornerstones of science fiction iconography, the warp drive, into reality.
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