Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: January 8, 2006 11:53:46 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

[Note:  Brings to mind that infamous 'three hour tour' that is now a  
part of TV history.  <g>  DLH]

Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip
IAN JOHNSTON
SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT
<http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=16902006>
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.

The theoretical engine works by creating an intense magnetic field  
that, according to ideas first developed by the late scientist  
Burkhard Heim in the 1950s, would produce a gravitational field and  
result in thrust for a spacecraft.

Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would  
slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster,  
allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic  
field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.

The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists  
working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device  
known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic  
fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test  
if the theory withstands further scrutiny.

Professor Jochem Hauser, one of the scientists who put forward the  
idea, told The Scotsman that if everything went well a working engine  
could be tested in about five years.

However, Prof Hauser, a physicist at the Applied Sciences University  
in Salzgitter, Germany, and a former chief of aerodynamics at the  
European Space Agency, cautioned it was based on a highly  
controversial theory that would require a significant change in the  
current understanding of the laws of physics.

"It would be amazing. I have been working on propulsion systems for  
quite a while and it would be the most amazing thing. The benefits  
would be almost unlimited," he said.

"But this thing is not around the corner; we first have to prove the  
basic science is correct and there are quite a few physicists who  
have a different opinion.

"It's our job to prove we are right and we are working on that."

He said the engine would enable spaceships to travel to different  
solar systems. "If the theory is correct then this is not science  
fiction, it is science fact," Prof Hauser said.

"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."

The US authorities' attention was attracted after Prof Hauser and an  
Austrian colleague, Walter Droscher, wrote a paper called "Guidelines  
for a space propulsion device based on Heim's quantum theory".

Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>



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