(ORDO NEWS) — According to the inventor, this electromagnetic motor refutes the principles of physics known to us.
EmDrive prophesied the title of the starting point of the era of great space discoveries and the colonization of the solar system, which astronomers around the world have dreamed of for so long. Alas, the reality is much more prosaic.
The unique installation is capable, for example, of moving a spacecraft in a vacuum… without using fuel. So why did many scientists believe (and continue to believe so far) that this invention is pure charlatanism?
For the first time, the concept of an electromagnetic propulsion system was published back in 2002 by the British research company Satellite Propulsion Research, founded by aerospace engineer Roger Scheuer.
At the same time, the first working prototype of the device was presented to the public. Yes, it was the famous “British scientists” who invented the fantastic engine that caused a wave of skepticism from the scientific community.
The fact is that EmDrive defies all existing laws of physics (we already wrote about this ). Its design is a magnetron that generates microwaves, as well as a high- quality resonator – a metal “bucket”, a trap for microwaves in the form of a sealed cone.
The magnetron (in everyday life, it is he who ensures the operation of microwave ovens) is connected to the resonator by a high-frequency transmission line, that is, an ordinary coaxial cable.
Entering the resonator, the EM wave is radiated towards both ends with the same phase velocity, but with different group velocity – this, according to the creator, is the reason for the effect.
What is the difference between these two speeds? Getting into a closed space, electrons begin to propagate in it, reflecting from the inner walls of the resonator. The phase velocity is the velocity relative to the reflecting surface, which, in fact, determines the speed of the electrons.
Since the electrons enter the chamber from the same source, this value is indeed the same for all. The group velocity , in turn, is the velocity of the electrons relative to the end wall and increases as they move from the narrow to the wide part of the cone.
Thus, according to Scheuer, the pressure of the EM wave on the wide wall of the resonator is greater than on the narrow one, which creates thrust.
Engine versus Newtonian physics
So why do scientists disagree with this? The main claim of physicists is that the principle of operation of the described design directly contradicts Newton’s third law , which states that “there is always an equal and opposite reaction to an action, otherwise the interactions of two bodies against each other are equal and directed in opposite directions.”
Simply put, in the space we are accustomed to, for every action there is a counteraction, equal in strength, but opposite in direction.
This principle explains the reason for the operation of all modern engines, from jet engines (gas is supplied backwards, which moves the car forward) to ionic ones (a beam of charged atoms moves in one direction, and a ship in the other). EmDrive simply has no emissions.
In addition, several other less important parameters remain unaccounted for. For example, the author of the concept did not take into account the fact that the EM wave exerts pressure not only on the end, but also on the side walls of the resonator.
After being criticized, Scheuer published an unreviewed paper explaining his point of view, but according to experts, the radiation pressure theory is more complicated than the theory he presented.
Technology on the verge of fantasy
In 2013, NASA became interested in the engine. No wonder: if EmDrive really works as advertised, then this will be a real revolution in the field of space travel. The device was testedat the Eagleworks Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center.
The work was carried out under the direction of Harold White, and in their course an anomalous result was obtained – a thrust of about 0.0001 N. White believes that such a resonator can work by creating a virtual plasma toroid that implements thrust using magnetic hydrodynamics with quantum vacuum oscillations.
The conditions for the tests were chosen sparing, 50 times less in power than the experiments of Scheuer himself. They took place on a low-force torsion pendulum capable of detecting forces of tens of micronewtons, in a sealed stainless steel vacuum chamber at room air temperature and normal atmospheric pressure.
NASA is confident that with a design thrust of 1.2 mN, the installation will be able to reach the edge of the solar system in just a few months. And in order to keep the apparatus in orbit, thrust power is required from 100 mH to 1H.
But the current design does not allow squeezing such power out of the engine. In addition, the placement of the engine in one or another part of the theoretical satellite will also affect its heating and thrust.
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