NASA’s impossible space engine, the EMdrive, passes peer review
But that doesn’t mean it actually works as advertised.
“All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.” -Carl Sagan
“For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.” So goes Newton’s third law, and despite the developments of relativity and quantum mechanics, that fundamental law of the Universe — otherwise known as the conservation of momentum — has never been challenged. Yet a few years ago, a new space drive that claims to break that exact law was proposed and put forth by inventor Roger Shawyer, the EMdrive. Unlike conventional rocket engines, which cause thrust in one direction by propelling exhaust outwards in the opposite direction, the EMdrive claims to take an external source of power and convert it into a positive thrust with no corresponding reaction.
And despite the fact that this seems to violate the known laws of physics, a prototype device was submitted to NASA’s Eagleworks lab for testing. Perhaps surprisingly, the test came back positive: there was thrust observed despite the lack of a reaction. And if Dr. José Rodal from the NASA Spaceflight forums can be trusted, the paper resulting from the test…
