Prospects for breakthrough propulsion from physics

Millis, Marc G.

doi:10.1109/eh.2004.1310847

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…) where integration is over the closed surface S of a volume V in physical space that contains the spacecraft. Following the arguments by Penrose [5,18] (violation of causality) and by Krauss [3] (a signal is needed to tell spacetime to warp, but its speed itself cannot exceed c), GR clearly does not allow to travel faster than the speed of light in spacetime ℝ 4 . Since absorption of positive gravitophotons is reducing , this would require either the mass of the Φ spacecraft to be reduced in ℝ 4 , or the gravitational constant G to become smaller, owing to Eq.…”

Section: Space Flight In Parallel Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, it has to be clarified whether current theory has found all possible physical interactions. For instance, many scientists have already guessed that an interaction between electromagnetism and gravitation should exist [3], not contained in the laws of current physics.…”

Section: Deficiencies In Current Fundamental Physical Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The total energy extracted from the vacuum is, however, always zero. According to L. Krauss in [3] the cosmological constant is 5×10 -10 J/m 3 . This means that the conversion of photons into gravitophotons begins to occur as soon as the condition h 4 4  ph ≈0 is satisfied.…”

Section: The Metric For Coupling Electromagnetism and Gravitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In chapter two, the physical principles of the so called field propulsion system are quantitatively addressed, explaining their application in future spaceflight 2 . In particular, it is shown how the poly-metric from Heim space leads to a metric describing electromagnetic phenomena and its conversion into a gravitational 3 like metric, postulating a novel particle, the gravitophoton. In chapter three, the equations of the gravitophoton interaction are derived, and a physical model is presented to calculating the magnitude of the gravitophoton interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim's Quantum Theory

Dröscher¹,

Hauser²

2004

40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

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Section: Space Flight In Parallel Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deficiencies In Current Fundamental Physical Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Metric For Coupling Electromagnetism and Gravitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device Based on Heim's Quantum Theory

Dröscher¹,

Hauser²

2004

40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

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“…Confronted by the physical limits of rocketry and space sails, NASA supported the Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project from 1996 to 2002 [Millis 1999a[Millis , 2004a. As its name suggests, the project specifically looked for propulsion breakthroughs from physics rather than refinements of technology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Potential Propulsion Breakthroughs

Millis

2005

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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: The term, propulsion breakthrough, refers to concepts like propellantless space drives and faster‐than‐light travel, the kind of breakthroughs that would make interstellar exploration practical. Although no such breakthroughs appear imminent, a variety of investigations have begun. During 1996–2002 NASA supported the breakthrough propulsion physics project to examine physics in the context of breakthrough spaceflight. Three facets of these assessments are now reported: (1) predicting benefits, (2) selecting research, and (3) recent technical progress. Predicting benefits is challenging, since the breakthroughs are still only notional concepts, but energy can serve as a basis for comparison. A hypothetical space drive would require many orders of magnitude less energy than a rocket for journeys to our nearest neighboring star. Assessing research options is challenging when the goals are beyond known physics and when the implications of success are profound. To mitigate the challenges, a selection process is described where: (1) research tasks are constrained to only address the immediate unknowns, curious effects, or critical issues; (2) reliability of assertions is more important than their implications; and (3) reviewers judge credibility rather than feasibility. The recent findings of a number of tasks, some selected using this process, are discussed. Of the 14 tasks included, six reached null conclusions, four remain unresolved, and four have opportunities for sequels. A dominant theme with the sequels is research about the properties of space, inertial frames, and the quantum vacuum.

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