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Gravitational Currents Could Slash Fuel Needed For Space Flight
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that scientists are mapping the gravitational corridors created from the complex interplay of attractive forces between planets and moons that can be used to cut the cost of journeys in space. 'Basically the idea is there are low energy pathways winding between planets and moons that would slash the amount of fuel needed to explore the solar system,' says Professor Shane Ross from Virginia Tech. 'These are free-fall pathways in space around and between gravitational bodies. Instead of falling down, like you do on Earth, you fall along these tubes.' The pathways connect Lagrange points where gravitational forces balance out. Depicted by computer graphics, the pathways look like strands of spaghetti that wrap around planetary bodies and snake between them. 'If you're in a parking orbit round the Earth, and one of them intersects your trajectory, you just need enough fuel to change your velocity and now you're on a new trajectory that is free,' says Ross. 'You could travel between the moons of Jupiter essentially for free. All you need is a little bit of fuel to do course corrections.' The Genesis spacecraft used gravitational pathways that allowed the amount of fuel carried by the probe to be cut 10-fold, but the trade off is time. While it would take a few months to get around the Jovian moon system using gravitational currents (PDF), attempting to get a free ride from Earth to Mars on the currents might take thousands of years."
I saw a show once that demod two spining bicycle wheels at right angles lifting of the ground. It works off the right-hand rule - the sideways spin feeds the other and it feds back in. its not perpetual motion but its some way of cheating where you go faster and faster. they theorized you could get to jup in a few weeks! anybody know this?
We can't even successfully navigate the cosmos but we're worried about fuel efficiency. Get to the edge of the solar system and back and then we can talk about light years per gallon.
By this same logic, when our sun lines up with the plane of the milky way at 11:11am on Dec 21st, 2012, we should beware the tunnel of gravity that suddenly hits us. By the same logic that allows these gravitational tubes to exist, it makes complete sense that we should fear that 26,000 year occurrence. Who knows what will happen when we face that.