NASA scientists reveal 3D model of warp drive ship that can get to Alpha Centuri in 2 weeks 8| *pics

Ok so its still in development but the lead scientist working on this project has already started experimenting with tiny warp bubbles where they fold space (I need the Home Alone clip where the kid slaps his face with a dropped jaw inserted here)

But check out the pics of what they say is very likely what the ship will look like when constructed.

Dr. Harold "Sonny" White is still working on a warp drive at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Their work is still in the experimental stages but that doesn't mean they can't imagine already what the real life Enterprise ship should look like according to their math. You're looking at it right now.

Here is a talk by Dr Harold White about warp drive tech at the SpaceVision 2013 conference here



This is so cool its freezing. Im just exited about the warp drive experimentation let along plans to actually make a ship than can get us to another star system. What glorious times we live in when we can even dream of this stuff as being even possible.....colour me amazed.

linky

They talk about the warp bubbles here

warp bubbles experiments

Working at NASA Eagleworks—a skunkworks operation deep at NASA's Johnson Space Center—Dr. White's team is trying to find proof of those loopholes. They have "initiated an interferometer test bed that will try to generate and detect a microscopic instance of a little warp bubble" using an instrument called the White-Juday Warp Field Interferometer. It may sound like a small thing now, but the implications of the research huge. In his own words:

Also interesting

The energy problem, solved There was only one problem with all this: where does the energy come from? While we knew that warp drives were theoretically possible, physicists have always argued that they would require a ball of exotic matter the size of Jupiter to power it. Clearly, that was not practical. But thankfully, Dr. White has found a solution that changes the game completely. The Eagleworks team has discovered that the energy requirements are much lower than previously thought. If they optimize the warp bubble thickness and "oscillate its intensity to reduce the stiffness of space time," they would be able to reduce the amount of fuel to manageable amount: instead of a Jupiter-sized ball of exotic matter, you will only need 500 kilograms to "send a 10-meter bubble (32.8 feet) at an effective velocity of 10c." Ten c! That's ten times the speed of light, people (remember, the ship itself would not go faster than the speed of light. But effectively it will seem like it does).

a reply to: TiM3LoRd

I'm not trying to burst your warp drive bubble. What I'd like to know is how to circumvent the problem, and catastrophic results, of hitting things at that speed.



The image is, as I'm sure you've seen, a fleck of paint that nearly pierced the windscreen of the space shuttle some years ago.

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

The warp drive is problem #1 that must be solved.
There are multiple problems however that must be solved to accomplish high velocity space flight.
Problem #2: how to create a force field shield powerful enough to withstand a nuclear explosion, multiple times over.

originally posted by: myselfaswell
a reply to: TiM3LoRd

I'm not trying to burst your warp drive bubble. What I'd like to know is how to circumvent the problem, and catastrophic results, of hitting things at that speed.

The image is, as I'm sure you've seen, a fleck of paint that nearly pierced the windscreen of the space shuttle some years ago.

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

My understanding of the technology is limited but from what I can gather the ship itself isnt moving through space, the space around the ship is folded so its not inertial movement in the traditional sense of the word. So Space paint shouldnt be a problem. It will simply float past and around the ship.

a reply to: FingerMan

#3 aquire 500kg of exotic matter.
#4 research a way to produce exotic matter.
#5 lots of science to take the jump from theoretical exotic matter to practical exotic matter.
#6 what was exotic matter, anyway?



But hey, its a start!

a reply to: TiM3LoRd

Fantastic thread and pictures.

The first thing I thought of - apart from the obvious star trek thingy is though….

if aliens do exist as most seem to think, then with technololgy like this and assuming they will be aware of it, (obviously they will listen to the NSA or whoever listens to us), they will certainly appear now and make themselves known.

Having seen our attemps at self annihilation you can bet they will be bothered about our mentality and the state of a war going on somewhere on our planet virtually always, so they will probably feel the universe is threatened. They will also probably be aware of our slavelike mentality to the elite of this planet whom, were there any trouble here would be the first to sit in the seats of our warp effort transports to their home planets - lucky them.

I hope they fix it because it will bring to a head the argument do aliens exist and will be fascinating.

It looks like a beautiful piece of machinery and folding space - I can't wait.

a reply to: TiM3LoRd

That's assuming everything in space is moving at the same velocities as you. It doesn't work like that.

But hey, I'm sure if they actually make a warp drive, they can figure out how to make an electromagnetic shield system to go along with it.

Awesome story btw, I hope I get to see another star system up close before I die.

a reply to: TiM3LoRd

It's a product of their imagination, not real.

Their work is still in the experimental stages but that doesn't mean they can't imagine already what the real life Enterprise ship should look like - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: rockintitz
a reply to: TiM3LoRd

That's assuming everything in space is moving at the same velocities as you. It doesn't work like that.

But hey, I'm sure if they actually make a warp drive, they can figure out how to make an electromagnetic shield system to go along with it.

Awesome story btw, I hope I get to see another star system up close before I die.

Well if the space around the ship is folding it would require a massive distortion of space which I guess would act as its own shield as the even horizon of where the space is folded would act like a slip stream for matter outside the bubble. It would slide off the surface of the bubble as for everything inside the bubble there would be no motion.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: TiM3LoRd

It's a product of their imagination, not real.

Their work is still in the experimental stages but that doesn't mean they can't imagine already what the real life Enterprise ship should look like - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Yes thats correct the ship is not sitting in space dry dock awaiting a shuttle with its compliment of crew to man the interstellar ship. What was the point of that comment?? Of course its a product of their imagination..do you think ANYTHING we have created since we walked out of the jungles existed anywhere but in our imagination???

Come on mate. This is supposed to be a forum for intelligent discussion.

originally posted by: Shiloh7

if aliens do exist as most seem to think, then with technololgy like this and assuming they will be aware of it, (obviously they will listen to the NSA or whoever listens to us), they will certainly appear now and make themselves known.

Would you stop on the sidewalk and talk to an ant? I do not think they would.

This is maybe a bit off topic. I had an old man, who was a gunner on a Navy vessel stationed in Hawaii during WW2, tell me about receiving orders to fire on a "disc" that was hovering near the ship. He said he could see his stream of fire arcing around the object and then straightening out as it went past. This sounded to me like a description of something warping space around itself. He seemed to be giving an honest account and had nothing to gain by lying.

Pretty sure if they can come with a real warp drive, then some sort of electromagnetic deflection shield cant be far off either.

Cool indeed.

Not at the moment but if ants started building aeroplanes we would soon start paying much more attention to them!

a reply to: Pimpintology

Depends if the 'ant' had a stinger in its tail which is what I am afraid they might think.

originally posted by: ManFromEurope
a reply to: FingerMan

#3 aquire 500kg of exotic matter.
#4 research a way to produce exotic matter.
#5 lots of science to take the jump from theoretical exotic matter to practical exotic matter.
#6 what was exotic matter, anyway?

But hey, its a start!

Just in time eh?

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) Collaboration at CERN in Geneva have successfully verified the existence of a new “exotic” type of particle that was hitherto unusual to the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics.
Physicists confirm existence of new 'exotic' matter

a reply to: Biigs

Isn't that what the scientists on the 370 plane that simply disappeared (unless I have missed something) were working on?

originally posted by: Biigs
Pretty sure if they can come with a real warp drive, then some sort of electromagnetic deflection shield cant be far off either.

Cool indeed.

They can already control Plasma with magnetic fields. Large contained Plasma field to burn up in coming debris.

a reply to: TiM3LoRd

Thanks mate. I sorta kinda get it, but probably not really if I'm being honest. And I know I didn't state it but I was a bit more concerned about planets, brown dwarf/black dwarf stars and the like. I just don't see how these type of things can be accounted for at the speeds that are being proposed.

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

The only "real" thing in this thread is the 3D Model.

Space folding and exotic matter that can be used to fold space are in the realms of Warp Drives and Dilithium crystals.

Just from a practical perspective, what happens to time when you fold space?

Never seen this properly answered by NASA.