View Single Post
  #25  
Old November 24th 16, 04:49 AM posted to sci.space.policy
William Mook[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,840
Default Emdrive might change the law of inertia (for the Earth too!)

Review of Rocket Propulsion Elements:

Apollo rocket engines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq3phcv-NbI

Nuclear engines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs3zNwXhzSA

Nuclear Pulse engines:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoLcJuBtOw

Photon rocket
Electron–positron annihilation occurs when an electron and a positron (the electron's antiparticle) collide. The result of the collision at low energies is the annihilation of the electron and positron, and the creation of gamma ray photons.

At high energies, other particles, such as B mesons or the W and Z bosons, can be created. All processes must satisfy a number of conservation laws, including:

Conservation of electric charge. The net charge before and after is zero..
Conservation of linear momentum and total energy.
Conservation of angular momentum.

As with any two charged objects, electrons and positrons may also interact with each other without annihilating, in general by elastic scattering. This can be used in conjunction with photonic crystals to cause gamma ray pairs to self collimate.

By changing crystalline features, gammay ray pairs can be directed producing a propulsive skin. Such a skin can also act as a reactive armour to deflect incoming radiation and particles arriving at high speed.

Neutrino rocket
Since neutrinos also have a smaller mass than electrons, it is also possible for the annihilation to produce one or more neutrino–antineutrino pairs. This is an important feature for operation of photonic thrust propulsion systems in inhabited regions.

Reverse process
The reverse reaction, electron–positron creation, is a form of pair production governed by two-photon physics. This is an important detail in that it is possible using this process to efficiently capture sunlight and light at the surface of stars, and produce electron-positron pairs that are then stored in crystalline forms created by self-replicating machine systems made from the heavy materials found in the star's atmosphere itself.

A 1 meter diameter sphere of positronium stored at 8 g/cc holds sufficient positronium to power all the world's industry today! Something the size of a Citation Mustang, massing 2.5 metric tons, carrying 4.0 metric tons of positronium, is capable of

Vf / c = TANH( LN( MR ) ) = TANH( LN( 4.0/2.5 ) ) = 43.82% light speed

This is sufficient to boost at one gee, and come to a stop 3053 astronomical units distant. (0.0483 light years) It takes 159.98 days star time and 157.67 days ship time to carry out this mission. For comparison the distance between Earth and Pluto is less than 40 AU and it takes less than 17 days to boost there at one gee. So, such a ship as described above, could carry people around the solar system with ease.