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Originally Posted by xelasnave
What have they done A small test or built a proto type
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It's a test unit just to try to determine if it does actually produce thrust of if the thrust measured previously in other experiments was just due to other factors (they weren't conducted in a vacuum).
Quote:
Originally Posted by alocky
what isn't mentioned is that although there is no need for a propellant, you still need to generate the electric field and magnetic field in the device to create the Lorentz force.
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I think they imagine generating power through solar or nuclear for larger scale applications. I don't really understand it but they're theorising that it is working in a similar way to magnetohydrodynamic drives and the quantum vacuum is acting like the propellant. The article I linked to below has the details.
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Originally Posted by Eratosthenes
good point. I have seen effects observed at small scale not translate to larger scales. An example is an effect measured in a tiny working model which was merely due to the heat generated by the device. This thermal gradient was dominant at small scales, but was swamped by other forces and factors as you scaled the device up. The device just didnt work when it was scaled up. The initial experimental results were "real" but misinterpreted.
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I believe that's the main difference with this test as opposed to the previous ones. This one was conducted in a vacuum and was supposed to isolate the experiment. I'm not sure the details but this article has quite a comprehensive description and history of the project:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/...stic-em-drive/