NationStates Jolt Archive

As a trekkie (of sorts) I was super excited to read about the possibility of an actual warp drive, the fact that they could be testing it in only 5 years gave me some ideas...............

AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.

"NASA have contacted me and next week I'm going to see someone from the [US] air force to talk about it further, but it is at a very early stage. I think the best-case scenario would be within the next five years [to build a test device] if the technology works."
full article here (http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006)

let's say that it works and in 15 years there are charter flights to Mars. would you want to go? how much money would you be willing to spend to have such and experience?

I know that a warp drive would do great things for space exploration, but what other fun uses could you think of?

let's say that it works and in 15 years there are charter flights to Mars. would you want to go?

Hell yes. Sign me up for the test flight. Even if I end up in a hell dimension like in Event Horizon, it'll be worth it.

I know that a warp drive would do great things for space exploration, but what other fun uses could you think of?

Traveling to other dimensions would be great, possibly encountering aliens, colonizing other planets, finding exotic materials to mine...what part WOULDN'T be fun?

let's say that it works and in 15 years there are charter flights to Mars.Okay, sure.would you want to go?Of course.how much money would you be willing to spend to have such and experience?Not a red penny.I know that a warp drive would do great things for space exploration, but what other fun uses could you think of?Quite a few, but turning it into yet another fat payday for the usual suspects is pretty wide of the mark for me.

I really hope its true. I'd love to be out there.

...turning it into yet another fat payday for the usual suspects is pretty wide of the mark for me.
That's right. It's everybody's _right_ to have free intergalactic travel. I think that's in the Communist Manifesto.

But if this is ever to really be useful, it's got to get into the hands of private entrepreneurs. Without innovators like Burt Rutan and visionaries like Richard Branson, we would never have any hope for commercial space travel.

My price point for interplanetary travel is about $20k, US. I think I could swing about $1-$2k for a simple ride into space.

I will say what I did on the conspiracy theory board I thought I would only see this on.

Did they find this technology by accidently pointing the Hubble at the Sahara?

[/Homeworld reference]

Make it so! Engage! Warp 9, Mr. Sulu!

I just hope the people in those ships dont become the Babble-On Techno dullards cast from the Next Generation or become the blame america crew from the tits and ass version of the "new" Galactica.

Rich

They should try and build the engine from Futurama. That would kick ass.

I will say what I did on the conspiracy theory board I thought I would only see this on.

Did they find this technology by accidently pointing the Hubble at the Sahara?

[/Homeworld reference]

I wouldn't know. But even if it was doable, I bet we don't have the kind of power generation to get that thing running practically anyways. A magnetic field strong enough to induce gravity, much less distort space time? I think that's in the black hole region isn't it?

As a trekkie (of sorts) I was super excited to read about the possibility of an actual warp drive, the fact that they could be testing it in only 5 years gave me some ideas...............




full article here (http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006)

let's say that it works and in 15 years there are charter flights to Mars. would you want to go? how much money would you be willing to spend to have such and experience?

I know that a warp drive would do great things for space exploration, but what other fun uses could you think of?

Would I go, absolutely. No question about it I would be off this rock so freakin' fast and fuck the checkbook!

I’ve always had a love for travel; this would be the orgasmic climax of that. :D

I just hope the people in those ships dont become the Babble-On Techno dullards cast from the Next Generation or become the blame america crew from the tits and ass version of the "new" Galactica.

Rich
Huh?


This is one of those things that is kinda cool, but...

It is cool and I have geek roots that should be jumping for joy, but to paraphrase David Cross-
"Put a man on Mars? Why don't we put a man in an apartment." I understand the advantages of a space program, but we have a lot of terrestial problems to sort out.

So, um, conflicted. But I would like a ride.

Just one question: How would we power something like this? Don't even think about anti-matter because it takes way more energy to make it than we get out of it and even with all the anti-matter in the world, we'd barely be able to light a 100 watt bulb for a few hours.

Also, why are we bothering with a warp drive when we haven't even got a good interstellar probe design yet? Oh sure the Orion and Daedalus projects showed some promise for a while but they either let way too much energy just go off in all directions and be wasted or they didn't bother with any fuel collection during the trip. Granted there isn't much fuel to be found in interstellar space but there still might be enough between here and the next star - Proxima Centauri (Gliese 551).

I'd like to go jumping around the galaxy like Kirk and Picard as much as the next trekker but I'd also like to survive the trip and get back before the sun turns into a black dwarf.

I hate to stomp on your dream, especially since I share it, but I think we should be reasonable and take the proper steps.

I guess I'd rather see all of us develop the faculties necessary to transcend time and space individually, either without or with as little technology as necessary to do that, rather than have space-buses.

DIY Warp drive. The Warp Core is in your head.

They should try and build the engine from Futurama. That would kick ass.
You'd have to find someone who thinks like Farnsworth or his clone.
Moving the rest of the universe around you? ;)

I wouldn't know. But even if it was doable, I bet we don't have the kind of power generation to get that thing running practically anyways. A magnetic field strong enough to induce gravity, much less distort space time? I think that's in the black hole region isn't it?
For the fans ...
the artificial gravity well drive is in the usage of the Romulans.
The UFP basically uses peristaltic drive with a Le Cubierre field. The requirement is that the mass you already possess would undergo obvious relativistic dilation if you didn't have a way to displace the mass. The energizing of the Le Cubierre (i think it's le, anyway) is the process of allowing your material mass to be transmuted to the pervasion of subspace (aether in some philosophies) and a well balanced wave theory guides the transition between the two, until the realm of sublight is traversed and you move into FLA speeds and energies/dimensions.
The problem with these guys is how you're going to displace mass. Else you're talking about a *HUGE* accelerative junction. And also, it's kind of the reverse of the desired effect if you apply a stronger and stronger gravitational field. Unless you can apply a proportionate negative energy coeffecient (good luck with that at current tech levels) then how exactly do you get past that nitpicky issue of relativistic sublight mass accumulation?

Just one question: How would we power something like this? Don't even think about anti-matter because it takes way more energy to make it than we get out of it and even with all the anti-matter in the world, we'd barely be able to light a 100 watt bulb for a few hours.

Also, why are we bothering with a warp drive when we haven't even got a good interstellar probe design yet? Oh sure the Orion and Daedalus projects showed some promise for a while but they either let way too much energy just go off in all directions and be wasted or they didn't bother with any fuel collection during the trip. Granted there isn't much fuel to be found in interstellar space but there still might be enough between here and the next star - Proxima Centauri (Gliese 551).

I'd like to go jumping around the galaxy like Kirk and Picard as much as the next trekker but I'd also like to survive the trip and get back before the sun turns into a black dwarf.

I hate to stomp on your dream, especially since I share it, but I think we should be reasonable and take the proper steps.
...guess who gets a :fluffle: ?
;)
It's good to see you post something along these lines.

Just one question: How would we power something like this? Don't even think about anti-matter because it takes way more energy to make it than we get out of it and even with all the anti-matter in the world, we'd barely be able to light a 100 watt bulb for a few hours.

Also, why are we bothering with a warp drive when we haven't even got a good interstellar probe design yet? Oh sure the Orion and Daedalus projects showed some promise for a while but they either let way too much energy just go off in all directions and be wasted or they didn't bother with any fuel collection during the trip. Granted there isn't much fuel to be found in interstellar space but there still might be enough between here and the next star - Proxima Centauri (Gliese 551).

I'd like to go jumping around the galaxy like Kirk and Picard as much as the next trekker but I'd also like to survive the trip and get back before the sun turns into a black dwarf.

I hate to stomp on your dream, especially since I share it, but I think we should be reasonable and take the proper steps.
Dude, you should totally call NASA and that guy and let them know that they're wasting their time. They'd want to know...

I just can't wait untill someone makes a weapon with this technology.:p

full article here (http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006)


It should be noted that some of the principles they're talking about are similar to the Philadelphia Experiment baseline, as far as tech goes. The timing is peculiar.

This is the first piece of news in a long time to actually put a genunie smile on my face. Not that there hasn't been good news lately but there is something special about this for me since I have a huge interest in space travel.

For those that say we should fix our problems here first I say, what if the solutions to our problems are found in space? Exploration is a fundamental part of who we are, to stop exploring would be to deny who we are.

I call BS.

There are quasars (I think) that produce a ****load of magnetism.
Enough to tear a man apart from thousands (millions?) of miles away.

Yet, here they are, in this dimension.

But maybe everybody else is wrong and this luny is right.

They've funded wierder projects than this though, so I don't doubt that the entire thing with the Air force is true, I just don't think it'll work.

I assume they're saying that this "warp drive" will work in such a way that Lorentz's transformations are not a consideration? The romantic/sci-fi nut in me wants this to be true, but...

It sounds very nice, but also quite dubious....

I'm no physics nut, but..."alternate dimensions"?

A potential power source for starships is fission backed fusion. Filo Farnsworth - who invented the tv - also invented the worlds first fusion reactor, and while his first models were nowhere near break-even, his successors have gotten pretty close recently. It wouldn't matter if we got to break-even if we ran the reaction out the back of the ship for thrust though and that would mean that we'd need something to power the fusor, which is where fission reactors come in.

Chemical rockets have a mass ratio of about 4 and this is pretty much the upper limit for them. As a rule of thumb, a mass ratio greater than 4 is not economical. A mass ratio 10 is at the limits of the possible, and a mass ratio greater than 20 is probably impossible (At least without staging). The Apollo Saturn V uses staging, and had a monsterous mass ratio of 600, but was a disintegrating totem pole so it doesn't count.

Nuclear pulse fission rockets can go about 1:1 but spray fallout everywhere because your blowing off a nuke underneath you.

Nuclear fusion rockets have never been built and could potentially do even better but there is no working model to test any of the theory. Yet.

As for the alternative demensions bit, they supposedly exist and 'could' be a great way to get around but I'd like to see a working model before I book a flight. This warp drive seems to push the limits.

A potential power source for starships is fission backed fusion. Filo Farnsworth - who invented the tv - also invented the worlds first fusion reactor, and while his first models were nowhere near break-even, his successors have gotten pretty close recently. It wouldn't matter if we got to break-even if we ran the reaction out the back of the ship for thrust though and that would mean that we'd need something to power the fusor, which is where fission reactors come in.

Chemical rockets have a mass ratio of about 4 and this is pretty much the upper limit for them. As a rule of thumb, a mass ratio greater than 4 is not economical. A mass ratio 10 is at the limits of the possible, and a mass ratio greater than 20 is probably impossible (At least without staging). The Apollo Saturn V uses staging, and had a monsterous mass ratio of 600, but was a disintegrating totem pole so it doesn't count.

Nuclear pulse fission rockets can go about 1:1 but spray fallout everywhere because your blowing off a nuke underneath you.

Nuclear fusion rockets have never been built and could potentially do even better but there is no working model to test any of the theory. Yet.
Either way, we need something besides the (quite primitive) rockets used today.

We have tried doing some work with these but funding always gets cut before the now primitive, crude, and poor designs gets finished. Daedalus and Orion both had major problems with their basic designs that we could now correct but there is no motivation to do this. What we'd need is a new space race. This time we'd need to shoot for another star and get a probe there, maybe even back with samples.

This site is a good source for both scifi and real life equations (http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/index.html)

I just hope the people in those ships dont become the Babble-On Techno dullards cast from the Next Generation or become the blame america crew from the tits and ass version of the "new" Galactica.

Rich

Wha?

Personally I hope they invent the Hyperdrive soon; you can keep your piddly Warp Drive, meanwhile I'll fly around the galaxy like it's a Sunday afternoon drive :D

Either way, we need something besides the (quite primitive) rockets used today.

Ion Drive, maybe? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_drive)

We already have that technology...

Oh, how I wish this would be true, but sadly I don't think it is. And if it were even theoretically possible, technologically it could be almost insourmountable.

There's nothing on the NewScientist site about this.

let's say that it works and in 15 years there are charter flights to Mars. would you want to go? how much money would you be willing to spend to have such and experience?

i would give everything i have

Oh, how I wish this would be true, but sadly I don't think it is. And if it were even theoretically possible, technologically it could be almost insourmountable.

There's nothing on the NewScientist site about this.

Yeah, I agree. Maybe in 50 years time...

That's right. It's everybody's _right_ to have free intergalactic travel. I think that's in the Communist Manifesto.

But if this is ever to really be useful, it's got to get into the hands of private entrepreneurs. Without innovators like Burt Rutan and visionaries like Richard Branson, we would never have any hope for commercial space travel.

My price point for interplanetary travel is about $20k, US. I think I could swing about $1-$2k for a simple ride into space.
i dont think their going to take you up there on a beggar's salary. Right now the current rate for a suborbital flight is 200k and a japanese business man just payed 10million to go to the ISS. I don't your going anytime soon buddy.

You'd have to find someone who thinks like Farnsworth or his clone.
Moving the rest of the universe around you? ;)

Of course anybody could do it if they really took to the Professor. They'd understand that nothing is impossible.

They should also make those boxes with alternate universes in them, that what's it called... Farnsworth Parabox, yeah.

A more import question; does it have enough room for my make up bag!? :p

Oh, how I wish this would be true, but sadly I don't think it is. And if it were even theoretically possible, technologically it could be almost insourmountable.

I believe Dr. Farnsworth said it best:

"The difficult we do right away. The impossible takes slightly longer."

And no, I'm not talking about Futurama. I mean the real Farnsworth, Filo T.

Ion Drive, maybe? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_drive)

We already have that technology...


The problem with ion drive is that it has really crappy thrust. It's like having a car that goes from 0 to 60 in 6.5 years.

The problem with ion drive is that it has really crappy thrust. It's like having a car that goes from 0 to 60 in 6.5 years.

That would make driving to work fun.

Of course anybody could do it if they really took to the Professor. They'd understand that nothing is impossible.

They should also make those boxes with alternate universes in them, that what's it called... Farnsworth Parabox, yeah.
Can I get a Witness? Yeah!!!
:D