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Old September 6th 20, 09:57 PM posted to sci.space.policy
Doctor Who[_2_]
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Default Mach Thruster Update.

On 9/6/20 7:22 PM, Alain Fournier wrote:
On Sep/6/2020 at 10:14, Doctor Who wrote :
On 9/6/20 3:50 PM, Alain Fournier wrote:
On Sep/6/2020 at 02:14, wrote :
Gravity, Gizmos, and a Grand Theory of Interstellar Travel:

"Woodward’s MEGA drive is different. Instead of propellant, it
relies on
electricity, which in space would come from solar panels or a
nuclear reactor. His
insight was to use a stack of piezoelectric crystals and some
controversial—but he
believes plausible—physics to generate thrust. The stack of
crystals, which store
tiny amounts of energy, vibrates tens of thousands of times per
second when zapped
with electric current. Some of the vibrational frequencies harmonize
as they roll
through the device, and when the oscillations sync up in just the
right way, the
small drive lurches forward."

See:

https://www.wired.com/story/mach-eff...tellar-travel/


What are the odds of this actually working?


*From the link you provided:
“I'd say there's between a 1-in-10 and 1-in-10,000,000 chance that
it’s real, and probably toward the higher end of that spectrum,” says
McDonald.

Yeah, 1 in 10,000,000 seems about right to me.

Woodward is following a path a little similar to that of calmagorod
with his NNP. He doesn't give equations of how much thrust his device
should produce. He does experiments and gets results that are most of
the time close to measurement errors, when some other folks try to
redo the same experiments they usually get less thrust. That all
looks much like artifacts. But then, again from the linked you provided:
“But imagine that one chance; that would be amazing."


Alain Fournier




the important thing in life is to be convinced, but you will regret
everything as soon as the patent is filed and the equations revealed.


If and when the equations are revealed, I will not regret anything and I
will rejoice. As for the patent, I don't really care about it if it
isn't backed up by a rocket that actually can move large objects around
and/or equations showing why it should work. I am not against a
fantastic improvement in space travel, it is just that I will not
believe in it until someone gives me a reason to believe in it.


Alain Fournier




I find your lack of faith unbearable :-)