Spacecraft Propulsion Developments

[AnimeFan188]

Cannae will try to prove propellentless propulsion in space in
2017 and has ambitious space probe designs with 33 years of
constant acceleration to reach 3% of lightspeed:

"Cannae is not using an EmDrive thruster in their upcoming launch. Cannae is using it’s
own proprietary thruster technology which requires no on-board propellant to generate
thrust. In addition, this project is being done as a private venture. Cannae is only working
with our private commercial partners on the upcoming mission.

Theseus Space is going to be launching a demo cubesat (probably in 2017) which will use
Cannae thruster technology to maintain an orbit below a 150 mile altitude. This cubesat
will maintain its extreme LEO altitude for a minimum duration of 6 months. The primary
mission objective is to demonstrate our thruster technology on orbit. Secondary
objectives for this mission include orbital altitude and inclination changes performed by the
Cannae-thruster technology."

See:

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/12...llentless.html

[AnimeFan188]

China says tests of Propellentless EMDrive on Tiangong 2
space station were successful:

"Dr. Chen Yue, Director of Commercial Satellite Technology for the China Academy of
Space Technology (CAST) announced on December 10, 2016 that not only has China
successfully tested EmDrives technology in its laboratories, but that a proof-of-concept
is currently undergoing zero-g testing in orbit (according to the International Business
Times, this test is taking place on the Tiangong 2 space station).

Scientists with the China Academy of Space Technology claim NASA’s results
‘re-confirm’ what they’d already achieved, and have plans to implement it in satellites
‘as quickly as possible.’

‘The establishment of an experimental verification platform to complete the milli-level
micro thrust measurement test, as well as several years of repeated experiments and
investigations into corresponding interference factors, confirm that in this type of
thruster, thrust exists.’

Cast is a subsidiary of the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
(CASC) and the manufacturer of Dong Fang Hong satellites."

See:

http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2016/12...llentless.html

[AnimeFan188]

EmDrive: UK scientist claims 'new physics' explains
galaxy rotation and theoretical space propulsion:

"British physicist Dr Mike McCulloch, who previously used quantised inertia to explain how
the controversial electromagnetic space propulsion technology EmDrive works, says that
he has new evidence showing his theory can also explain galaxy rotation, which is one of
physics' biggest mysteries.

McCulloch, a lecturer in geomatics at Plymouth University's school of marine science and
engineering, says he now has even more evidence that his "new physics theory" about
quantised inertia works, and that it makes it possible to explain why galaxies are not
ripped apart without using theory of dark matter."

See:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/emdrive-u...190111061.html

[AnimeFan188]

Machs Effect interstellar propellentless propulsion
mission proposal at NASA NIAC:

"Finally Mach Effect propulsion had gotten useful levels of funding and will get a
validation test with NASA. They reported interim results and have made good progress.

Nextbigfuture covered the announcement of funding by NASA NIAC for mach effect
propulsion in April 2017.

They now have presented the new experiments and path forward with the needed
materials to clearly prove significant propulsion and unambiguous space experiments.

They have advanced the experimental work and will get test state-of-the-art PIN-
PMN-PT materials.

They have demonstrated a Force versus Voltage scaling relationship that is consistent
with the theory."

See:

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/0...nasa-niac.html

[AnimeFan188]

Pilot Wave theory suggests Trumpet shaped
Emdrive would have more thrust:

"Researchers José Croca and Paulo Castro from the Centre for Philosophy of Sciences of
the University of Lisbon in Portugal suggest that not only could pilot wave theory explain
the mysterious behavior of the EM drive, it could help to make it even more powerful.

Applying a pilot wave theory to NASA’s EM drive frustum [or cone] could explain its
thrust without involving any external action applied to the system, as Newton’s third law
would require."

See:

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/1...re-thrust.html

[AnimeFan188]

Scientists to study new propulsion idea for spacecraft:

"Spacecraft and satellites could in future be launched into space without the need for
fuel, thanks to a revolutionary new theory.

Dr. Mike McCulloch, from the University of Plymouth, first put forward the idea of
quantised inertia (QI) - through which he believes light can be converted into thrust -
in 2007.

He has now received $1.3 million from the United States Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) for a four-year study which aims to make the concept a
reality.

The QI theory predicts that objects can be pushed by differences in the intensity of
so-called Unruh radiation in space, similar to the way in which a ship can be pushed
towards a dock because there are more waves hitting it from the seaward side.

The theory has already predicted galaxy rotation without dark matter, and the fact
that if a system is accelerated enough - such as a spinning disc or light bouncing
between mirrors - the Unruh waves it sees can be influenced by a shield. Therefore, if
a damper is placed above the object, it should produce a new kind of upwards thrust."

See:

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Sc...craft_999.html

[AnimeFan188]

The Truth Is The Military Has Been Researching "Anti-Gravity"
For Nearly 70 Years:

"Decades-old questions about the potential existence of fantastical anti-gravity
propulsion technologies have resurfaced following the Navy’s own disclosure of
encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena and our own original reporting on a
series of bizarre patents assigned to the U.S. Navy that seem to defy our current
understanding of physics and aerospace propulsion. While the discussion continues
over whether any such technologies are feasible, the truth is that the theoretical
concepts behind them are anything but new. In fact, the U.S. military and the federal
government have been formally researching these radical concepts since the 1950s,
and according to our own research, those efforts have continued on to this very day.

In our dive into what seems like something of a bottomless rabbit hole of government
studies into this exotic scientific realm, we have collected a body of research, news
reports, and firsthand accounts. These establish the fact that the types of "anti-
gravity", propellantless propulsion, and mass reduction technologies described in the
Navy’s recent "UFO" patents are at least based on more than 60 years of peer-
reviewed research conducted and published by the likes of the American Institute of
Physics, NASA, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Air
Force Research Laboratory.

While we can't say that any of this research led to actually being able to harness
"anti-gravity" or extremely advanced next-generation propulsion technologies to any
useful extent, the most advanced laboratories under control of both the armed forces
and the academic world have certainly been trying their best to get there for the
better part of a century. Also, keep in mind that all of this information comes from
unclassified sources, and there is definitely more of it than just what is represented
here. We can only wonder how much work has been done in the classified realm on
what was once openly considered the next massive revolution in aerospace
technology."

See:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...early-70-years

[AnimeFan188]

The Rocket Motor of the Future Breathes Air Like a Jet Engine:

"The two men arrived at the airfield before dawn to set up the test stand for a
prototype of their air-breathing rocket engine, a new kind of propulsion system that is
a cross between a rocket motor and a jet engine. They call their unholy creation
Fenris, and Davis believes that it’s the only way to make getting to space cheap
enough for the rest of us. While a conventional rocket engine must carry giant tanks
of fuel and oxidizer on its journey to space, an air-breathing rocket motor pulls most
of its oxidizer directly from the atmosphere. This means that an air-breathing rocket
can lift more stuff with less propellant and drastically lower the cost of space access—
at least in theory.

The idea to combine the efficiency of a jet engine with the power of a rocket motor
isn’t new, but historically these systems have only been combined in stages. Virgin
Galactic and Virgin Orbit, for example, use jet aircraft to carry conventional rockets
several miles into the atmosphere before releasing them for the final leg of the
journey to space. In other cases, the order is reversed. The fastest aircraft ever flown,
NASA’s X-43, used a rocket engine to provide an initial boost before an air-breathing
hypersonic jet engine—known as a scramjet—took over and accelerated the vehicle to
7,300 mph, nearly 10 times the speed of sound.

But if these staged systems could be rolled up into one engine, the huge efficiency
gains would dramatically lower the cost of getting to space. “The holy grail is a single-
stage-to-orbit vehicle where you just take off from a runway, fly into space, and come
back and reuse the system,” says Christopher Goyne, director of the University of
Virginia’s Aerospace Research Laboratory and an expert in hypersonic flight."

See:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-rock...-a-jet-engine/

[AnimeFan188]

Spacecraft of the Future Could Be Powered By Lattice
Confinement Fusion:

"On Earth, fusion experiments typically require large, expensive equipment to pull off.

But researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have now demonstrated a method
of inducing nuclear fusion without building a massive stellarator or tokamak. In fact,
all they needed was a bit of metal, some hydrogen, and an electron accelerator.

The team believes that their method, called lattice confinement fusion, could be a
potential new power source for deep space missions. They have published their
results in two papers in Physical Review C."


"“What we did was not cold fusion,” says Lawrence Forsley, a senior lead experimental
physicist for the project. Cold fusion, the idea that fusion can occur at relatively low
energies in room-temperature materials, is viewed with skepticism by the vast
majority of physicists. Forsley stresses this is hot fusion, but “We’ve come up with a
new way of driving it.”

“Lattice confinement fusion initially has lower temperatures and pressures” than
something like a tokamak, says Benyo. But “where the actual deuteron-deuteron
fusion takes place is in these very hot, energetic locations.” Benyo says that when she
would handle samples after an experiment, they were very warm. That warmth is
partially from the fusion, but the energetic photons initiating the process also
contribute heat."

See:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise...k-not-included

[AnimeFan188]

Gravity, Gizmos, and a Grand Theory of Interstellar Travel

For decades, Jim Woodward dreamed of a propellantless engine to take humans to the
stars. Now he thinks he’s got it. But is it revolutionary—or illusory?

"Instead of propellant, it relies on electricity, which in space would come from solar
panels or a nuclear reactor. His insight was to use a stack of piezoelectric crystals and
some controversial—but he believes plausible—physics to generate thrust. The stack
of crystals, which store tiny amounts of energy, vibrates tens of thousands of times
per second when zapped with electric current. Some of the vibrational frequencies
harmonize as they roll through the device, and when the oscillations sync up in just
the right way, the small drive lurches forward.

This might not sound like the secret to interstellar travel, but if that small lurch can be
sustained, a spacecraft could theoretically produce thrust for as long as it had electric
power. It wouldn’t accelerate quickly, but it could accelerate for a long time, gradually
gaining in velocity until it was whipping its way across the galaxy. An onboard nuclear
reactor could supply it with electric power for decades, long enough for an array of
MEGA drives to reach velocities approaching the speed of light. If Woodward’s device
works, it’d be the first propulsion system that could conceivably reach another solar
system within the lifespan of an astronaut. How does it work? Ask Woodward and he’ll
tell you his gizmo has merely tapped into the fabric of the universe and hitched a ride
on gravity itself."

See:

https://www.wired.com/story/mach-eff...tellar-travel/

[AnimeFan188]

So, now we'll find out if it really works?:

"With two ongoing studies rigorously testing the EmDrive’s “impossibility,” the
controversial drive that’s hung around astro-engineering circles for more than two
decades is only months away from its do-or-die moment."


"McCulloch has developed a theory of Quantized Inertia (QI), which explains the effect
and how it could help with human space travel. McCulloch has spent much of the past
18 months honing this theory and checking how its predictions match results in the
laboratory.

Jose Luis Perez Diaz in Madrid, Spain, and Martin Tajmar in Dresden, Germany, are
carrying out the experimental side of the project. Tajmar confirms that he plans to
publish two papers in February 2021, one on the “normal” microwave EmDrives and
the other on the laser-based EmDrives. On the experimental side, Tajmar is still
working on eliminating every possible source of error."

See:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/spa...rive-wont-die/

[ramlaen]

The time has finally come.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/n...-mars-missions

NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced Tuesday a collaboration to demonstrate a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space, an enabling capability for NASA crewed missions to Mars.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/U4D6kx9LRPk

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