Propulsion research goes into hyperdrive

By Leonard David

Senior space writer

updated 10:01 p.m. ET March 8, 2006

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Take one part high-frequency gravitational wave generation, then add in a quantum vacuum field.

Now whip wildly via a gravitomagnetic force in a rotating superconductor while standing by for Alcubierre warp drive in higher-dimensional space-time.

So you're looking for the latest in faster-than-light interstellar travel via traversable wormholes? That's one theme among many discussed at Space Technology and Applications International Forum, a meeting held here Feb. 12-16 that brought together more than 600 experts to thrash out a range of space exploration issues.

Along with the run-of-the-mill space debates of the day, STAIF has also become a respected venue for researchers that dabble in the exotic, the thought-provoking, the novel or the downright weird anomaly.

"We're hoping that nature has left a door open," said John Brandenburg of the Florida Space Institute in Orlando. "If we just find the right door ... we're trying every door knob. One of these days we'll find an open door."

Brandenburg gave a status report on his research into Gravity-Electro-Magnetism unification theory. His motivation to poke around in this kind of arena is driven in part by maybe snagging a Nobel Prize, he said, but added: "We not only want to see this stuff … we want to ride in it."

For the most part, the search for breakthroughs in space power and propulsion is akin to walking along the beach, hoping to find that doubloon — a gold coin — gleaming in the sun, Brandenburg told Space.com. "By the way," he said, "I live in Florida ... and that happens occasionally. So we're trying to get lucky."

Finding a pony in the pile
There is no doubt that anybody delving into warp drives and wormhole travel should expect a bit of a skeptical eye from others in certain scientific circles. Getting a hearing for the out-of-the-ordinary inspiration is tough.

"We've got to think about everything possible that there is to think about," said Eric Davis of the Austin, Texas-based Institute for Advanced Studies. "We have got to turn over every stone, and look into the future to find out what's waiting for us. What can physics do ... where should physics be going?"

To help explore that question, a forum is a legitimate place to present new thinking.

"Otherwise, we may never find it," said Dana Andrews, chief technical officer for Andrews Space in Seattle. He was an early advocate for having STAIF become a watering hole for challenging, nontraditional proposals.

The outlook that all physics has been discovered doesn't resonate well with Andrews. "I'm of the opinion that things like dark matter, dark energy, vacuum point energy … there might be a pony in that pile. And unless we invite people to think outside the box, we may never find the pony."

Blitzkrieg of equations
As example, a new exact solution of Albert Einstein's 90-year-old gravitational field equation was offered at STAIF by physicist Frank Felber, vice president and co-founder of Starmark Inc., based in San Diego.

And after you follow a blitzkrieg of his equations, Felber predicted that space travel near the speed of light is attainable — and not too far off in the future.

"I believe this new solution represents a major advance for space propulsion, in that it addresses the major engineering challenges of providing enormous energy to a payload quickly with negligible stresses," Felber later told Space.com.

Although all such projections are inherently risky, Felber explained, he figures that the first mission to accelerate a massive payload to "a good fraction" — meaning 10 percent or more — of the speed of light might be launched before the end of this century.

"The solution also offers immediate opportunities over the next couple of years to test Einstein's theory of gravity rigorously in the regime of relativistic speeds, where it has never before been tested," Felber noted. At less than 1 percent of the cost of space experiments — like the recently completed Gravity Probe B mission — laboratory experiments can be conducted to demonstrate "antigravity" and test Einstein's theory, he said.

From rest to relativistic speeds
Felber's solution of Einstein's gravitational field equation is the first to calculate the changing gravitational field of a mass moving near the speed of light. 

"I wasn't looking for antigravity or a means of propulsion ... and I wasn't looking ‘to push the boundaries,'" Felber said. Instead, he was looking for a way to relate inertial forces to the gravity of distant mass in the universe.

"In order to do this, I figured I needed to know the gravitational field of relativistic mass, since most of the mass in the universe is moving away from us at relativistic speeds," Felber explained.

His analysis found that a mass moving faster than 57.7 percent of the speed of light will gravitationally repel other masses lying within a narrow "antigravity beam" in front of it. The closer a mass gets to the speed of light, the stronger this antigravity beam becomes. Thus, the forward antigravity field of a suitably heavy and fast mass might be used to propel a payload from rest to relativistic speeds, Felber explained.

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