NHNE Wavemaker News List
Current Members: 500

Sunfellow & NHNE on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/sunfellow

Have You Checked Your Pulse Today?
http://nhne-pulse.org/

Subscribe / unsubscribe / important links at the bottom of this message.

------------

ŒIMPOSSIBLE¹ DEVICE COULD PROPEL FLYING CARS, STEALTH MISSILES
By David Hambling
Wired
October 29, 2009

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/impossible-drive-designers-dream-fly
ing-cars-stealth-missiles/

(Visit the link above for links to sources, websites, and reports mentioned
in this article. --DS)

The Emdrive is an electromagnetic drive that would generate thrust from a
closed system -- ³impossible² say some experts.

To critics, it¹s flat-out junk science, not even worth thinking about. But
its inventor, Roger Shawyer, has doggedly continued his work. As Danger Room
reported last year, Chinese scientists claimed to validate his math and were
building their own version.

Shawyer gave a presentation earlier this week on the Emdrive¹s progress at
the CEAS 2009 European Air & Space Conference. It answered few questions,
but hinted at how the Emdrive might transform spaceflight -- and warfare. If
the technology works, that is.

The heart of the Emdrive is a resonant, tapered cavity filled with
microwaves. According to Shawyer, a relativistic effect generates a net
thrust, an effect confirmed by various Emdrives he has built as
demonstrations. Critics say that any thrust from the drive must come from
another source. Shawyer is adamant that the measured thrust is not caused by
other factors.

While the argument over the drive¹s impossibility continues, so does the
engineering work. The problem is that nobody wants to talk about it. Even
Shawyer gives little away.

Last year, professor Yang Juan of the College of Astronautics at
Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) in Xi¹an was happy to confirm
that they were building an Emdrive which would be tested by the end of the
year. But following the publication of this news in Danger Room, the
situation changed. I was informed that the publicity was very unwelcome,
especially any suggestion that there might be a military application. (Yang
had previous published a study on the use of plasma as a weapon against
low-orbiting satellites. No further information has been forthcoming, and no
Chinese papers have been published on the Emdrive, though Yang has recently
published work on (unrelated) microwave plasma thrusters.

Shawyer asserts that work is also being carried out in France, Russia and in
the United States by a major aerospace company. But he cannot provide
details beyond vague promises of ³significant progress [that] has been made
in both theoretical and experimental work, within these groups.² He also
asserts that the British National Space Centre is said to be reviewing the
Emdrive. Again, no details.

The CEAS 2009 paper outlines recent progress and plans. Previous thrusters
generated relatively modest forces; the latest version now being built is
based on a cooled superconductor and should generate more than 300 pounds of
thrust for a 6-kilowatt input, Shawyer promises. (But does not yet appear to
have done so.) The plan is to mount four of these thrusters on an unmanned
demonstration vehicle that will weigh about 1,000 pounds. The craft will
have no wings: It will be supported by the Emdrives and propelled by jet
engines to about 230 knots. It will be capable of vertical takeoff and
hovering silently in place. If successful, it will be adapted as a personal
transport -- your very own flying car.

In the longer run, perhaps 10 years, Shawyer envisages a hybrid spaceplane
using Emdrive technology -- see the photo above of a 2-meter scale model.
The idea is a craft capable of making the 10,000-mile run from London to
Sydney, Australia in under three hours Š or taking a 40-ton payload on the
moon in about four days.

Aeronautical engineers have been dreaming of such a craft for decades; none
have ever panned out. The theoretical advantage of the Emdrive spaceplane
compared to rockets is that it allows a slow ascent with low acceleration
rate. There is also no telltale rocket exhaust plume, and this may be the
source of some of the interest. At present, the launch of a ballistic
missile anywhere on Earth can be immediately spotted from space. An
Emdrive-based launch system would be undetectable and could arrive from any
direction, leaving the target of an attack no way of knowing who to
retaliate against.

This is the kind of factor that might drive governments to put money into
Emdrive projects. An investment in contested science is not a probable
winner -- but the payoff could be a big one.

------------

NHNE Wavemaker News List:

Send Some Green Love To NHNE:
http://www.nhne.org/DONATE/tabid/398/Default.aspx

To subscribe, send a message to:
nhnenews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, send a message to:
nhnenews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

To review current posts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/messages
http://www.nhne.org/tabid/1044/Default.aspx

NHNE's Mother Ship:
http://www.nhne.org/

NHNE Pulse:
http://nhne-pulse.org/

Sunfellow & NHNE on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/sunfellow

Integral NHNE:
http://integralnhne.ning.com/

Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
eMail: nhne@...
Phone: (928) 257-3200
Fax: (815) 642-0117

P.O. Box 2242
Sedona, AZ 86339