Make it so!: NASA engineers say they successfully tested a real ‘warp drive

[Katashi_itto]

NASA has successfully tested a type of drive that could eventually take the concept of “warp drive” from science-fiction to reality, CNET reported.

The experiment, conducted at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, found that an electromagnetic drive, or “EMDrive,” was able to function in a vaccuum — something that even NASA has stated would defy the laws of motion.
The drive works by turning electrical energy into thrust without requiring standard fuel. The electricity is provided instead by solar energy.

According to NASASpaceFlight.com, an engineer with the propulsion research group NASA Eagleworks announced the successful test, touching off a far-reaching discussion about how the drive could violate the law of conservation of momentum, which states that a system’s momentum remains constant if it is not being affected by external forces.

While previous EMDrive experiments from researchers in the United Kingdom and China sparked criticism, NASASpaceFlight reported, the results of Eagleworks’ trial have not yet been debunked. If the drive becomes a reality, however, it could pose immediate benefits for the International Space Station.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/make-it-so-nasa-engineers-say-they-successfully-tested-a-real-warp-drive/

[Adrahil]

1. OH PLEASE BE TRUE!

I keep expecting them to announce they found a glitch in the measurement system that was registering thrust that did not exist, or a "measurement affected the process" kind of thing. But if this IS true, it makes interplanetary travel much mor practical since the ships would not have to carry massive amounts of fuel.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

2. Interplanetary travel only...

using solar energy the ship woul need to be in the vicinity of a star to work properly.

Interstellar space is a very dark place.

[Orsino]

3. No, they didn't. JournalismFail.

Despite the headline, the story isn't making a claim about FTL travel. What's described is a so-called space drive, reactionless thrust (without the ejection of a propellant) that would violate the law of conservation of momentum.

[kentauros]

4. I suspect most "journalists" have no clue as to what "warp drive" truly means.

They have no concept of the "fabric" of space, much less any inkling of an idea on why warping it could be a form of propulsion.

Of course, after the debut of the next Star Wars movie, any talk of reactionless drives will be referenced by "hyperspace" instead of "warp"