NASA admits to working on faster than light travel. The Alcubierre Drive!

reply to post by Phage

But very difficult to create a prototype (as well as powering it) Also might cause problems if engaged anywhere near a planetary system, I would think.

Even Issac Asimov addressed this in the 70's, saying that engaging such a drive would have catastrophic consequences if done so close to a planetary body.


reply to post by buster2010



As for the ship needing exotic metals to withstand impacts from objects at such high velocities, well not exactly. Every starship in SciFi has shields or some type of force field around the ship to protect it from just such things and hostile weapons. None were expected to take direct impacts to the hull. So its not the metal it's the shields that are needed.

With scientist saying today that it might be possible in the not so distant future, this begs the question of how far is the advancement that is not mentioned? Could be rather interesting.

Originally posted by GeisterFahrer
Ok, so we know what the speed of light is - My question is, what is the speed of dark?

Obviously it is the same.

Darkness travels at the same speed as light. Have you ever seen the two things in the same place?

I wonder if going the speed of light will get us further away from cancer?

Space travel is a dream......
We need those thinkers to come up with solutions to far more mundane problems that may actally kill us off,
I for one am sick of the useless waste of tax money to fund war and space, and even wars in space.
So much closer to home we are in deep kapuki if we dont do something about it well never make it to space.

I posted a link to an interview the other week with the ex head of the Breakthrough Propulsions division at NASA regarding this type of thing (and other problems we may encounter).

What he was saying is that the science is now at the stage where theories can be properly proposed (as opposed to wild speculation) but the technology for actually achieving it is a long way off.

He then went on to say that even if we manage to develop this, it is useless if we cannot shield the main part of the ship properly and that to do that we would have to cross into tech that is way beyond us at the moment. Basically the shielding bit was going on about how do they protect the astronauts from all the different gravities and inertias and radiation that would be affecting the section of the ship that is protecting the astronauts. Obviously, his interview was full of science speak that the likes of Phage could appreciate but is all a bit gobble-di-gook to me!

Bottom line though was that they are now working on it being theoretically possible (as opposed to technically possible).

It was an interesting interview but left me feeling that it isn't anything we will see in our lifetimes. Mind you, it only takes one serious breakthrough and then.........who knows?

ETA:

Here is the link again......

Star Trek Warp Drive Physics

Some thoughts.

First, true, traveling anywhere in the Galaxy (let alone the Universe) is much, much too slow even at light speed.

Second, we will send out probes and catalog and visit and video various systems, using an unmanned technology similar to Von Neumann probes, self-replicating (but limited) drones. These will transmit the information back to us and we will develop computer simulations that are so detailed it's as good as being there. In fact it will be better, since no danger, no disease transmission and since the probes can find the best places, we won't have to spend millennium looking and finding lots of barren rocks or gas giants. It will be a Holodeck type virtual experience where we can travel to the best planets as fast as one can 'select' the next option in a computer program.

This type of 'exploration' will have the 'human element' as the programmers and the virtual voyagers will catalog the raw data, allowing search and multimedia enhancements, music, comparisons, and lots of things that won't be available to a primitive exploration. It will be cost-effective and available to everyone.

So, in the end, it will take time as the VN probes fan out and find and catalog and transmit data, but being done on many simultaneous fronts it will be a lot quicker than going to systems sequentially.

Im sure if NASA got a little more money they would be very happy to search faster than light and any new propulsion technology.

Fact is America wants to spend more on military and social care, in fact a 2% decrease in welfare would double NASAs entire budget. (or dare i say, spend less on military, it costs more to air condition the military than it costs to run nasa, not that i want troops to overheat in their tanks or anything just a fun fact)

en.wikipedia.org... this is the 2010 budget, NASAs figure is near the bottom of Discretionary Spending at 18.7bil

Originally posted by buster2010
If we develop FTL drives then we will have to come up with far better metallurgy than what we have now. Because the metals we have no in no way could survive the impact of a micrometeorite going at light speed.

Might be hands down the funniest thing I ever read. No amount of metallurgy is going to protect you at light speed.

Besides, you dont want to travel at light speed, you want to simply bring your target location to you, so just a brisk step takes you there.

A deflection shield of electromagnetic/gravimetric energys will be just as important, draging/pushing particles and matter out of the way before it can react with the hull.

2nd

Originally posted by Amagnon

Originally posted by buster2010
If we develop FTL drives then we will have to come up with far better metallurgy than what we have now. Because the metals we have no in no way could survive the impact of a micrometeorite going at light speed.

Might be hands down the funniest thing I ever read. No amount of metallurgy is going to protect you at light speed

I personally think your above statement is funnier, your attitude in replying to people isn't that funny though.

Why can't a metal be designed to be strong enough to protect against objects hitting at LS velocities?

Originally posted by Amagnon

Originally posted by buster2010
If we develop FTL drives then we will have to come up with far better metallurgy than what we have now. Because the metals we have no in no way could survive the impact of a micrometeorite going at light speed.

Might be hands down the funniest thing I ever read. No amount of metallurgy is going to protect you at light speed.

Besides, you dont want to travel at light speed, you want to simply bring your target location to you, so just a brisk step takes you there.

Everything you know about metallurgy is only based on what humans know and when it comes to the universe we have only taken a couple of steps on a thousand mile journey. Will our knowledge of metallurgy be the same in a hundred years or a thousand even a million years?
Lol you don't bring your target location to you we will be contracting the space in between worlds they stay in the same location.

I think generating a stable wormhole would be the more viable option for interstellar travel given that the journey time would be instantaneous and does not require the ship to have advanced life support, shielding or fuel for an extended journey. Its also just about as plausible given our current understanding of dark matter/negative energy.

Originally posted by doorhandle
I personally think your above statement is funnier, your attitude in replying to people isn't that funny though.

Why can't a metal be designed to be strong enough to protect against objects hitting at LS velocities?

Pull out your calculator, see what you get for the impact energy of even tiny masses moving at relativistic speeds.

ETA: Hint - the relativistic kinetic energy of a 1 gram mass moving at something like 99.999% light speed is on the order of a gigaton nuclear blast.

reply to post by GeisterFahrer


Maybe that's why they can't find any dark matter. It moves faster than light.

reply to post by andy06shake


Yes. Folding space via a wormhole would be much quicker and potentially less dangerous, but how much energy would it require? We're closer to the Alcubierre Drive. I'll take what I can get.

reply to post by MilesTeg


"We're closer to the Alcubierre Drive. I'll take what I can get."

I think there was problem with the Alcubierre drive. Something to do with the accumulation of high energy particles on the outside of the warp envelope(LoL Warp envelope!). When we reach our destination and the drive is disengaged/bubble destroyed. The accumulation of energy on the outside of the bubble radiates in all directions. Potentially destroying any life or habitable worlds in the system.

This does open up possibilities of using the Alcubierre Drive as an interstellar weapons system! LoL

Originally posted by Amagnon

Originally posted by buster2010
If we develop FTL drives then we will have to come up with far better metallurgy than what we have now. Because the metals we have no in no way could survive the impact of a micrometeorite going at light speed.

Might be hands down the funniest thing I ever read. No amount of metallurgy is going to protect you at light speed.

Besides, you dont want to travel at light speed, you want to simply bring your target location to you, so just a brisk step takes you there.

Rewind a few posts and read my post on Navigational issues.

Also, please don't misunderstand the Warp drive. It really doesn't warp space a great deal. It only warps space locally around the ship to create a wave more like a dimple that the ship sits in. The positive aspect of the wave is attempting to rush in and fill the negative aspect of the wave. This is how you achieve propulsion if sat at the median point.

No ship could survive an impact using this kind of propulsion, the only way is to either navigate around such collisions and come up with a way to shield against matter.

Korg.

reply to post by GeisterFahrer


Dude you just blew my mind!
Its so simple but ive never thought about that before.
I bet its faster, doesnt light have to travel through
The dark? Making risitance of some kind?
Idk im rambling now..