The inventor Roger Shawyer seems to think otherwise. He reckons that in Earth's atmosphere it'll fly at somewhere between 200 and 300 mph.Yeah, well even if it works (which is unlikely) the EM drive has a micronewton thrust, far too weak to lift itself off the ground.
What makes it credible is the fact that Shawyer is an established space technology consultant. He's not just some guy with faked credentials.I'd not come across this one. It has the classic signs of a con. at first sight. It's been around long enough to have been validated independently but for 'some reason' never quite has...it's a tiny effect, easily lost in background noise or that could be generated (say) by ionization of one of the bits used by the ridonculous power being pumped in...and so on.
Make it work without any ambiguity and I'll buy it.
On the other hand, NASA itself said they got results (in the micronewton range), here is a direct link to their paper:I'd not come across this one. It has the classic signs of a con. at first sight. It's been around long enough to have been validated independently but for 'some reason' never quite has...it's a tiny effect, easily lost in background noise or that could be generated (say) by ionization of one of the bits used by the ridonculous power being pumped in...and so on.
Make it work without any ambiguity and I'll buy it.
On the other hand, NASA itself said they got results (in the micronewton range), here is a direct link to their paper:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20140006052
They couldn't rule out experimental errors and such, particularly given the small size of the measured force, but they did get results they were unable to explain.
Note that Eagleworks is associated with NASA, but is not actually part of NASA; it is a research group (consisting of five people or so) who are investigating unconventional propulsion systems with what appears to be very limited resources. NASA proper has not got involved yet. presumably so they can wash they hands of it if they eventually find that it doesn't work.On the other hand, NASA itself said they got results (in the micronewton range), here is a direct link to their paper:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20140006052
They couldn't rule out experimental errors and such, particularly given the small size of the measured force, but they did get results they were unable to explain.
Is there a theoretical reason why you couldn't use a space elevator to escape a black hole?
Yes, there are still people who think it's possible (although it would require unobtainium).I have run across the idea of travel to the moon by going up and down a physical wire stretched to the moon twice - once I think in a Larry Niven story and once in a ST episode. Apparently there is actual sience behind this. Does anyone know if it's being worked on?
I have run across the idea of travel to the moon by going up and down a physical wire stretched to the moon twice - once I think in a Larry Niven story and once in a ST episode. Apparently there is actual science behind this. Does anyone know if it's being worked on?
there are still people who think it's possible ...
The best depiction in fiction that I have read is The Web Between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield. That highlights the huge engineering challenge that it would be.
Hmmm.... even with the best rawl plugs, cheese is impossible to keep a screw in for any amount of load bearing. I can't see it working.I have run across the idea of travel to the moon by going up and down a physical wire stretched to the moon twice - once I think in a Larry Niven story and once in a ST episode. Apparently there is actual science behind this. Does anyone know if it's being worked on?
Yes, it's exactly the same. Sheffield's and Clarke's books came out at exactly the same time and contain similar elements.I haven't read that, but I have read Arthur C Clarke's probably better-known The Fountains of Paradise, that employs a Space elevator to take payloads into earth orbit. Does Sheffield use the same concept?
Sorry Lb8535, I know I've quoted your post already, but I think it's a good time to add an observation. Due to our appalling human sense of distance and a variety of illustrations that support that deficiency, many people have no idea just what distance it is between the Earth and Moon. So;I have run across the idea of travel to the moon by going up and down a physical wire stretched to the moon twice - once I think in a Larry Niven story and once in a ST episode. Apparently there is actual science behind this. Does anyone know if it's being worked on?
Nope that worked out.Anyone with two connected brain cells will point out that as the Moon rotates around the Earth, It simply will not work.
Yes clicking on the link that was basically it. I forget how it dealt with the moonI haven't read that, but I have read Arthur C Clarke's probably better-known The Fountains of Paradise, that employs a Space elevator to take payloads into earth orbit. Does Sheffield use the same concept?
Nope that worked out.
Neither of those SF books mentions a connection from Earth to the Moon. Rather, it is a space elevator to a mass in geostationary orbit. The final leg of the journey would be achieved using a spacecraft travelling from Earth orbit to the Moon.I haven't read the story.
Could you briefly explain how the Moon and the Earth were connected. Bearing in mind that, in reality, if they were then the link would get wrapped around the Earth as the Moon orbited.
The only even remote possibility I can envisage is that you have a track running around the Earth that lay beneath the Moon's orbit., and have your base station rolling along it.
Even that would be impossible for a number of engineering reasons. Not to mention the track would have to pass over oceans.
INT21.
If we're building a tether between the two, we need to start getting the nylon together quick smart.