Will you let us fly to the stars? A NASA engineer claims to have discovered a new power of nature

Yes, in 1969, humans were able to fly and even land several times on the surface of the Moon, our only natural satellite. However, all other space objects are much farther away. Half a century after these record-breaking lunar missions, the technology for operating rockets and spacecraft has not changed. Everything indicates that we will now be allowed to fly, perhaps to Venus and Mars, the two planets closest to us.

However, chemical fueling of spacecraft has its enormous limitations. The faster we want to escape Earth, the more fuel we need to have at our disposal. Taking more fuel from the Earth's surface requires using… more fuel. Therefore, we can say that fuel and its means of transportation constitute a major obstacle for us.

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So it is not surprising that scientists have been trying for decades to create an engine capable of propelling spacecraft without having to use any fuel once that spacecraft reaches space. However, despite numerous proposals and tests, we are still waiting for the creation of such a revolutionary technology.

the most recent an offer It comes from startup Exodus Propulsion Technologies. Representatives of the company claim that during their development work, they were able to discover a completely new force of nature, the use of which allows them to start engines without using any fuel. It must be admitted that this is a very brave declaration.

However, it should be noted that the company has specific technical know-how behind it. Exodus Propulsion Technologies' co-founder is Charles Buehler, a longtime NASA engineer who has worked on the International Space Station program, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Space Shuttle, so he has extensive experience in the space industry.

But regardless of experience, anyone who claims to have discovered an entirely new force of nature must face a heavy dose of skepticism from the scientific community. There is no doubt that creating such an engine would revolutionize our relevance in space. Not only will manned travel to other regions of the solar system be open to us, but travel to the nearest stars, which today are still completely beyond our reach, will also become realistic.

However, Buehler is unfazed, and in an interview with The Debrief, he said that an engine built on the power his team was able to determine will be used for space travel over the next 1,000 years. Then maybe it will be replaced by something else.

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However, it is worth noting here that the engine developed by Exodus Propulsion Tech, according to the company's announcement, is capable of producing a thrust force of up to 10 mN. At first glance, not much. However, it should be noted that if the engine does not use any fuel, every thrust is a revolution, regardless of its value. Moreover, if such a motor could operate continuously in space conditions, even a small but constant acceleration could accelerate probes and spacecraft to enormous speeds.

Bühler says the actuator relies on hitherto unknown laws of physics, which allow force to be exerted on an object through asymmetry of electrostatic pressure. Details have not yet been provided, although the company claims that it is already planning to test drive it in space.

However, before we start thinking about sending humans to Proxima b or other planets orbiting nearby stars, we need to take a deep breath. Whichever way you look at it, history does know many cases of revolutionary impulses that were never realized. They were also supposed to break the laws of physics, but so far they have not. So it's possible that the drive developed by Buhler and his colleagues could join drives like EmDrive. However, there is still a small hope that sooner or later a company will emerge that will be able to create an engine that will not need any fuel. After all, who wouldn't want to live in an era in which humanity becomes not only an interplanetary species, but an interstellar species as well?