The Pod Bay

« first day (3773 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (464 days later) »

uhoh

14:49

IVO Quantum Drive electric propulsion technology "impossible drive" test mission has been launched spacenews.com/… and thedebrief.org/…

I think that the satellite is called Barry-1 and has a temporary designator 99010 but I'm not sure db.satnogs.org/satellite/QDDY-8878-5291-1819-3935#mapcontent

perhaps part of 2023-175xxx

rogue.space/missions/barry-1

geoffc

15:26

@ErinAnne Good point. 6-8 weeks from a Stackoverflow perspective.

6 hours later…

Erin Anne

21:42

@uhoh I don't see how a British trivia comedy show is supposed to propel a satellite

1 hour later…

uhoh

22:44

@ErinAnne I'm not paying careful attention, but from what I've read, scientists and a company found that per a "principle of operation" bandied about by a few scientists, a drive unit is fairly simple and straightforward to build and include on a satellite that is also testing/proving several other very sound technologies.

So they said to themselves "what the heck, why not?" likely hoping it would produce added, invaluable publicity to their startup company.

I was a graduate student when cold fusion was announced, and labs all over the world tried to reproduce the result not because they believed it, but because it had risen to the level of hype where it was necessary to prove it was or was not actually happening.

Unfortunately, the way they are testing it allows for the possibility of ambiguous result. If I understand correctly, they are testing in LEO where interaction with the atmosphere will naturally result in all kinds of tiny increases and decreases in drag (day/night and solar activity-induced density fluctuations, spacecraft attitude changes)

So it's very possible that they may see a coincidental pattern between on/off cycling of the supposedly very weak "propulsion" and natural fluctuations. If so, they can ask for more private investment to "investigate further". In my opinion this is about publicity and money and not a scientific investigation.

Q: Why is the "impossible" space drive impossible?

So apparently NASA just built an impossible propulsion device: Sawyer's engine is extremely light and simple. It provides a thrust by "bouncing microwaves around in a closed container." The microwaves are generated using electricity that can be provided by solar energy. No propellant is neces...

Q: What are the consequences of NASA validating this "impossible" space drive?

A British inventor invented an engine that can provide thrust in outer space without a propellant. This engine has been tested by a Chinese team, and more recently by NASA: The engine itself is The EmDrive: and is FAR too complicated for me to understand. If this engine actually is legitimate, w...

nasa engine-design emdrive

Q: Is the 'impossible' EMdrive going to space?

The 'impossible' EM Drive is about to be tested in space Time to get to the bottom of this crazy thing. http://www.sciencealert.com/the-impossible-em-drive-is-about-to-be-tested-in-space Back in September I saw a bunch of articles about actually testing the EMdrive in space... Is it real...

launch emdrive

Q: Why don't we put an EmDrive in space?

Once again the impossible drive is in the forefront of public news. But thus far, I am still unimpressed. NASA seems to have thrown a lot of resources, to test the viability of the EmDrive. But I am not sure we are any closer to knowing if it "works". Why don't we build a cube sat, launch it in...

nasa testing emdrive

Q: "Magic Space Unicorns" disproven? Any technical write-ups of the explanation of Em-Drive results presented at Space Propulsion 2018?

@Antzi's answer to EM drive requirements links to the recent Ars Technica article NASA’s EM-drive is a magnetic WTF-thruster; Test reveals that the magic space unicorns pushing the EM-drive are magnetic fields.. According to that article, results of a study of the proposed, "observed", and "measured

propulsion emdrive

Q: The "Em Drive" paper is out - need some help understanding it

Scott Manley tells us (see Engadget also) that the reaction-less drive peer reviewed paper is out, and nicely explains the basics. If it works, it would violate the long-held belief that linear momentum is conserved. I looked at the paper and it didn't take long to find a strange word. (screen c...

propulsion emdrive

Q: What's the final word; does the EmDrive drive work or not?

I'd like to know the final verdict on the EmDrive (or EM Drive); does it work or not? Some say yes, others say no, some say the measured effect was not propulsion, but just the energy radiated by the cables.

nasa design-alternative electric-propulsion emdrive

Anyway, it's the first test in the West in a space environment. Too bad it's in LEO where variable drag and sideways thrust at some attitudes abound.

They could have simply built a better test rig on Earth and redone the pendulum measurements with much higher sensitivity ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20140006052 and Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio-Frequency Cavity in Vacuum and discussions in The "Em Drive" paper is out - need some help understanding it (mentioned above)

geoffc

23:18

Launch License acquired!!!! Friday 8-10AM EST launch window. Screw work I guess.

reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/17w3uet/…

uhoh

@geoffc Headline: "Late at night, November 15, 2023, geoffc discovers 'screw work' concept, community members stunned"

Q: What is the current status of EmDrive engine?

This engine was making news few years ago, but I have not heard much about it lately. Were there any updates regarding its tests, further development or anything?