NASA set to publish paper on futuristic ‘Warp Drive’

The EmDrive is a theoretical propulsion system said to be capable of delivering astronauts to Mars in just 10 weeks, but many have dismissed the idea, saying the principles behind it go against the law of physics.

The scientific community will apparently get one step closer to resolving this possibility as a peer-reviewed paper on the EmDrive is set to be published in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power, according to multiple news reports.

In theory, the EmDrive moves a spacecraft by bouncing microwaves within a closed compartment. The engine would be powered by solar energy, meaning an EmDrive craft wouldn’t need to carry fuel.

The significance for this might be enormous. For example, current satellites might be half the size they are today without the requirement to carry fuel. People could also go further into space, producing their own propulsion on the way.

Could This Be the Future of Spaceflight?

The idea has been considered implausible because its presumably fuel-free nature means the drive may directly oppose the law of conservation of momentum. It indicates it would create a forward-facing pressure without an equivalent and reverse drive acting in other way. For instance, a rocket accelerates forward as its exhaust is sent in the other direction.

And yet, four independent labs, including a NASA lab, have created the propulsion system.

On NASA’s Spacelight forum, the new paper was recently said to have been authored by a NASA team known as Eagleworks and pass academic scrutiny.

“It is my understanding that Eaglework’s new paper has been today accepted for publication in a peer-review journal, where it will be published,” posted one Spacelight user some reports have identified as José Rodal. The comment has since been deleted.

Earlier this year, in the same forum, Eagleworks engineer Paul March confirmed that his team was working on an EmDrive paper.

“The Eagleworks Lab is NOT dead and we continue down the path set by our NASA management,” March posted. “Past that I can’t say more other than to listen to Dr Rodal on this topic, and please have patience about when our next EW paper is going to be published. Peer reviews are glacially slow.”

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Image credit: NASA

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