The roots of the propulsion system tested by the NASA team trace back to a British researcher named Roger Shawyer, who claims that his “Em Drive” generates thrust by rocketing microwaves around in a chamber. There is no need for propellant, as solar power can be used to produce the microwaves.
It’s really starting to look as if an “impossible” space propulsion technology actually works.
Researchers at NASA’s Johnson space center in Houston have found that a microwave thruster system that requires no propellant does indeed generate a small amount of thrust, wired UK reported on July 31. If the technology pans out, it could make spaceflight far cheaper and speedier, potentially opening up much of the cosmos to exploration, advocates say
“Test results indicate that the RF [radio frequency] resonant cavity thruster design, which is unique as an electric propulsion device, is producing a force that is not attributable to any classical electromagnetic phenomenon and, therefore, is potentially demonstrating an interaction with the quantum vacuum virtual plasma,” the NASA team wrote in their study, which they presented on July 30 at the 50th Joint Propulsion Conference in Cleveland.
Shawyer says, “Company, Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd., has successfully tested experimental versions of the thruster. But many scientists have dismissed or downplayed such claims, saying the propulsion system violates the law of conservation of momentum, Wired UK reported.
“Future test plans include independent veification and validation at other test facilities, “the researchers wrote.
You can read the abstract of the NASA team’s new paper for free here.
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