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Leaked NASA Paper Suggests The 'Impossible' EM Drive Really Does Work (sciencealert.com)

A source close to NASA Eagleworks has leaked the test results of the 'impossible' EM Drive. While it's important to note that the results that have been leaked haven't been published in an academic journal, they do suggest that the system works and is capable of generating force of 1.2 millinewtons per kilowatt in a vacuum. ScienceAlert reports: The paper concludes that, after error measurements have been accounted for, the EM Drive generates force of 1.2 millinewtons per kilowatt in a vacuum. That's not an insignificant amount -- to put it into perspective, the super-powerful Hall thruster generates force of 60 millinewtons per kilowatt, an order of magnitude more than the EM Drive. But the Hall thruster uses fuel and requires a spacecraft to carry heavy propellants, and that extra weight could offset the higher thrust, the NASA Eagleworks team conclude in the paper. Light sails on the other hand, which are currently the most popular form of zero-propellant propulsion, use beams of sunlight to propel them forward rather than fuel. And they only generate force up to 6.67 micronewtons per kilowatt - two orders of magnitude less than NASA's EM Drive, says the paper. The NASA Eagleworks team measured the EM Drive's force using a low thrust pendulum at the Johnson Space Centre, and the tests were performed at 40, 60, and 80 watts. They were looking for any sign that the thrust could be a result of another anomaly in the system, but for now, that doesn't appear to be the case. "The test campaign included a null thrust test effort to identify any mundane sources of impulsive thrust, however none were identified," the team, led by Harold White, concluded in the paper. "Thrust data from forward, reverse, and null suggests that the system is consistently performing with a thrust to power ratio of 1.2 +/- 0.1 millinewtons per kilowatt." But the team does acknowledge that more research is needed to eliminate the possibility that thermal expansion could be somehow skewing the results. They also make it clear that this testing wasn't designed to optimize the thrust of the EM Drive, but simply to test whether it worked, so further tweaking could make the propulsion system more efficient and powerful.

3 of 711 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This is interesting by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Troll

    Because if Trump wins, we need a way to leave this planet...

    Since I don't have any kids, for my purposes it may be enough to move to another country, and settle in a location with multiple water sources and some altitude.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Re:Casimir effect by ooloorie · · Score: -1, Troll

    If your understanding of physics does not predict the Casimir effect, you probably shouldn't be commenting on the EM drive, or results from NASA rocket scientists.

    The only thing that's defective here is your understanding of sarcasm.

    It is therefore seen that Newton's laws become increasingly inaccurate when the scale is very large (relativity), or very small (quantum mechanics).

    You don't say. It's almost like you had a year of college physics or something!

  3. Re:This is interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    You're the reason people will vote for him.

    Just to watch sanctimonious dimwits like you cry like little girls.

    The Brexit leave vote was the greatest thing ever. I consider myself an old-fashioned lefty and I voted leave. However, the finest moment was when the liberal intelligentsia unmasked themselves, post vote, as neo-fascists by writing furious articles about how democracy doesn't work and stupid people shouldn't be allowed to vote... and old people were evil and should also be banned from voting because they have no future. That was the teeny tiny little millennial Nazis AND middle-aged journalists who should know better.

    It was glorious. I want the US to have the same pleasure. So vote Trump and enjoy the agony of the pompous arseholes in the virtue-signalling chattering classes.