Constructing an Alcubierre Warp Drive

The possibility of faster than light travel

NASA scientists collaborated with an artist to produce realistic concepts of what a warp drive could look like.

We see them all the time in the best science fiction stories — ships with warp drives that make it possible for the characters to explore new planets and new galaxies. These crafts would go even faster than the speed of light except, if general relativity taught us anything, it’s that nothing can exceed the speed of light. Right? After all, light has no mass and thus it can move at 299,792,458 meters per second.

Well, that’s true. Nothing can exceed that universal speed limit. Except it’s still possible to construct a warp drive without breaking any laws of physics.

In 1994, Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre wrote a paper laying the mathematical and scientific foundation for a real life warp drive that wouldn’t interfere with general relativity. He became interested in this method of interstellar travel after seeing it used in science fiction stories to travel across vast distances.

Image from the film “Star Trek Beyond”.

How a warp drive works is by expanding and contracting the fabric of spacetime around a ship and its bubble. The ship never accelerates or moves, it is the fabric around it…