The controversial thruster
Stories from Physics
for 11-14
14-16
For many years there has been speculation that the propagation of an electromagnetic field inside a microwave cavity might be used to generate thrust. Rumours surrounding the development of a device based on this principle increased in 2016 when a team at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre published a paper claiming some successful results from experiments with an electromagnetic propulsion device. They report measuring a thrust to power ratio of 1.2 × 10 -6 N/W. However, their result is controversial as it may imply a violation of Newton’s third law and a number of early critiques of the research have appeared online.
References
. White, P. March, J. Lawrence, J. Vera, A. Sylvester, D. Brady, & P. Bailey. Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio-Frequency Cavity in Vacuum. Journal of Propulsion and Power, 2016, 1-12.
P. Glister, Close Look at Recent EmDrive Paper, January 3rd 2017, Centauri dreams, Imagining and Planning Interstellar exploration,
