This imbalance created in the process propels the object forward without expelling matter, in theory providing the foundation for a reactionless engine.
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This is the idea behind the radio frequency resonant cavity thruster—otherwise known as EmDrive—a theoretical reactionless engine powered by turning electricity into microwaves and bouncing them around a closed metal funnel.
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The simplest Woodward effect, which has been proposed as a theoretical basis for EmDrive and other reactionless propulsion methods, predicts local mass fluctuations that can be harnessed for propulsion without the need for a reaction.
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" A reactionless propulsion method based on the Woodward effect, first dubbed Mach Effect Thruster (MET) and then renamed Mach Effect Gravitational Assist (MEGA) drive, was funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program and is described as a "technically credible, advanced [concept] that could one day 'Change the Possible' in aerospace.
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Star Driver is a novel involving the development of a reactionless thruster.
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Through the years there have been numerous claims for functional reactionless drive designs using ordinary mechanics (i.e., devices not said to be based on quantum mechanics, relativity or atomic forces or effects). Two of these represent their general classes: the Dean drive is perhaps the best known example of a "linear oscillating mechanism" reactionless drive; the gyroscopic inertial thruster is perhaps the best known example of a "rotating mechanism" reactionless drive. These two also stand out as they both received much publicity from their promoters and the popular press in their day and both were eventually rejected when proven to not produce any reactionless drive forces.
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There was much madness > that year. For that reason it is famous in our history. But we had purchased > a reactionless, inertialess drive from the Outsiders. You may have guessed > their price.
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Even before the First World War, attempts were made to overcome the inertia problem of rotary engines. As early as 1906 Charles Benjamin Redrup had demonstrated to the Royal Flying Corps at Hendon a 'Reactionless' engine in which the crankshaft rotated in one direction and the cylinder block in the opposite direction, each one driving a propeller. A later development of this was the 1914 reactionless 'Hart' engine designed by Redrup in which there was only one propeller connected to the crankshaft, but it rotated in the opposite direction to the cylinder block, thereby largely cancelling out negative effects.
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The Dean drive was a mechanical device concept promoted by inventor Norman L. Dean. Dean claimed that his device was a "reactionless thruster" and that his working models could demonstrate this effect. He held several private demonstrations but never revealed the exact design of the models nor allowed independent analysis of them. Dean's claims of reactionless thrust generation were subsequently shown to be in error and the "thrust" producing the directional motion was likely to be caused by friction between the device and the surface on which the device was resting and would not work in free space.
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In his 1974 lectures, Laithwaite suggested that Newton's laws of motion could not account for the behaviour of gyroscopes and Laithwaite suggested that they could be used as a means of reactionless propulsion. The members of the Royal Institution rejected his ideas and his lectures were not published at the time, a first for the Royal Institution. His lectures were subsequently published independently as Engineer Through The Looking-Glass and also on the Royal Institution website. Despite this rejection and the fact that Laithwaite later acknowledged that gyroscopes behave fully in accord with Newtonian mechanics, he continued to explore gyroscopic behaviour, maintaining the belief that some form of reactionless propulsion could be derived from them.
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Eric Laithwaite, the "Father of Maglev", received a US patent for his own propulsion system, which was claimed to create a linear thrust through gyroscopic and inertial forces. However, after years of theoretical analysis and laboratory testing of actual devices, no rotating (or any other) mechanical device has ever been found to produce unidirectional reactionless thrust in free space.
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He claims that this hypothesis is testable so he and others have performed and continue to perform experiments attempting to detect and utilize this effect. His claim of a reactionless drive for possible breakthrough applications to space travel has generated a fair amount of popular interest."Gravity, Inertia, Exotica" Tau Zero Foundation"Interstellar propulsion: the quest for empty space." Entrepreneur.
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A variety of impact wrenches, in all common sizes from ¼" to 1", of different styles, including inline, butterfly, and pistol grip. This "reactionless" ratchet uses a miniature pin clutch impact mechanism instead of a gear reduction. Large 2½" Drive Ingersoll Rand impact vs ½" impact wrench. Impact wrenches are available in all sizes and in several styles, depending on the application.
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James F. Woodward (born 1941) is a professor emeritus of history and an adjunct professor of physics at California State University, Fullerton. He is best known for a physics hypothesis proposed in 1990, later expanded, that predicts a series of physical effects that he refers to as Mach effects but others refer to as the Woodward effect. Woodward claims the effect could be used as a reactionless drive for space travel.
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The latter of these made much of the surprising properties of the gyroscope. In 1974, Laithwaite was invited by the Royal Institution to give a talk on a subject of his own choosing. He decided to lecture about gyroscopes, a subject in which he had only recently become interested. His interest had been aroused by an amateur inventor named Alex Jones, who contacted Laithwaite about a reactionless propulsion drive he (Jones) had invented.
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Harnessing this effect could generate a reactionless thrust, which Woodward and others claim to measure in various experiments. Hypothetically, the Woodward effect would allow for field propulsion spacecraft engines that would not have to expel matter. Such a proposed engine is sometimes called a Mach effect thruster (MET) or a Mach Effect Gravitational Assist (MEGA) drive. So far, experimental results have not strongly supported this hypothesis, but experimental research on this effect, and its potential applications, continues.
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') Bulletin 'In Defence of Science' no.9, pp.2-3. (pdf, 253 Kb ) In 2011, the discussion was summed up by notable scientist and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Eduard Kruglyakov, who wrote that the installed engine had not changed the satellite's orbit by even a micron. The Roscosmos officials commented that the 'reactionless drive' part was installed initially to keep the mass balance and could not be removed after its actual role had been revealed.
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At least one report from Britol et al. has suggested Minkowski's formulation, if correct, would provide the physical base for a reactionless drive, however a NASA report stated, "The signal levels are not sufficiently above the noise as to be conclusive proof of a propulsive effect." Other work was conducted by the West Virginia Institute for Scientific Research (ISR) and was independently reviewed by the United States Air Force Academy, which concluded that there would be no expected net propulsive forces.
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They do possess a "reactionless drive" technology that allows them to reach this speed almost instantaneously. In Ringworld's Children Louis Wu says that the Outsiders have "something better" than hyperdrive but this is not elaborated on. They spend all of their time following starseeds and acting as information brokers to space-faring sentient races throughout the Milky Way. Their prices can be very high and scaled to the estimated impact the information will have on the civilization of the client race.
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The Gyroscopic Inertial Thruster is a proposed reactionless drive based on the mechanical principles of a rotating mechanism. The concept involves various methods of leverage applied against the supports of a large gyroscope. The supposed operating principle of a GIT is a mass traveling around a circular trajectory at a variable speed. The high-speed part of the trajectory allegedly generates greater centrifugal force than the low, so that there is a greater thrust in one direction than the other.
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The Puppeteers first moved their worlds into this formation when their home star turned into a red giant, using an inertialess, reactionless drive purchased at great price from the Outsiders. After the discovery that the core of the galaxy is exploding, the Puppeteers turned the fleet towards the Magellanic Clouds, gradually reaching a speed of 80% lightspeed. Although the Puppeteers have Faster-than-light technology they prefer to travel at safer, sub-light speeds. For centuries, the location of the Puppeteer homeworld was a great mystery.
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Published in 1993,The Traveller Bibliography, page 25 this was the final edition published by GDW. Set in the former territory of the Third Imperium after interstellar government and society had largely collapsed. TNE introduced Virus, a silicon chip-life form that infected and took over computers. The game mechanics used GDW's house system, derived from Twilight: 2000, 2nd Ed. The game used a more realism-centered approach to science fiction, doing away with reactionless thrusters, shortening laser ranges to a reasonable distance, etc.
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Inventor Norman L. Dean beside one of his "Dean drive" apparatuses. The Dean drive was a device created and promoted by inventor Norman Lorimer Dean (1902–1972) that he claimed to be a reactionless drive. Dean claimed that his device was able to generate a uni-directional force in free space, in violation of Newton's third law of motion from classical physics. His claims generated notoriety because, if true, such a device would have had enormous applications, completely changing human transport, engineering, space travel and more.
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In principle therefore, SED allows other "quantum non-equilibrium" distributions, for which the statistical predictions of quantum theory are violated. It is controversially argued that quantum theory is merely a special case of a much wider nonlinear physics, a physics in which non-local (superluminal) signalling is possible, and in which the uncertainty principle can be violated. It has also been proposed that inertia is one such emergent law. The reported results are subject to considerable argument, with accusations that it leads to the possibility of anti-gravity, reactionless drives or free energy.
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For product assembly, a pulse tool is commonly used, as it features a reactionless tightening while reducing the noise levels the regular impacts suffer from. Pulse tools use oil as a medium to transfer the kinetic energy from the hammer into the anvil. This gives a smoother impulse, a slightly lower torque to weight ratio and a possibility to design a shut off mechanism that shuts the tool down when achieving the correct torque. Pulse tools are not referred to as "impact wrenches" as the performance and technology are not the same.
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With the help of Holmes, a yacht builder, Keller, an electronics expert, and several workmen, Joe builds a small spaceship propelled by a reactionless drive based on his modification of the recoilless pistol. Just in time the ship is finished and, with Holmes, Keller, Sandy, and Sandy’s sister Pam aboard, Joe lifts off just as the police arrive to end the project. Pursued by Nike missiles, Joe takes the ship into space and heads for Asteroid M-387. After eleven days of travel they arrive at the asteroid and see only a radio mast and the entrance to a tunnel.
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Searching in the US patent office he had found at least 50 patents for similar reactionless drives. After studying the mechanisms, he concluded that they all relied on friction against the floor they were placed on, and they would be useless in space, where there isn't friction against any surface.Russell E. Adams, Jr, "The Bootstrap Effect", Analog, April 1978 Dean's patented devices, and his explanation of how his Drive was supposed to work, were later shown to develop no net weight loss over time and do not violate Newton's third law of motion. Many other inventors claim to have invented similar devices, and they all still remain unproven, and lacking a solid theoretic basis.
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Aetheric Mechanics is set in an alternate history March 1907, where steampunk technology is advanced far beyond the technology of the modern real world, including two-way television communications, air- and spacecraft powered by reactionless drives, and large combat mecha. The British Empire (which in this setting, includes realms on other planets) is engaged in a war against Ruritania. The war is not going favourably for Britain; however, the British government is covering up just how badly the war is going, including the fact that Ruritania is preparing an invasion of Britain. Dr. Robert Watcham, a captain and doctor in the British army on the French front, returns to London at the start of the story after his tour of duty is over.
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Several kinds of thrust generating methods are in use or have been proposed that are propellantless, as they do not work like rockets and reaction mass is not carried nor expelled from the device. However they are not reactionless, as they constitute open systems interacting with electromagnetic waves or various kinds of fields. Most famous propellantless methods are the gravity assist maneuver or gravitational slingshot of a spacecraft accelerating at the expense of the momentum of the planet it orbits, through the gravitational field, or beam-powered propulsion using the radiation pressure of electromagnetic waves from a distant source like a laser. More speculative methods have also been proposed, like the Woodward effect, the quantum vacuum plasma thruster or various hypotheses associated with resonant cavity thrusters.
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Very large impact wrenches (up to several hundred thousand foot-pounds of torque) usually incorporate eyelets in their design, allowing them to be suspended from a crane, lift, or other device, since their weight is often more than a person can move. A recent design combines an impact wrench and an air ratchet, often called a "reactionless air ratchet" by the manufacturers, incorporating an impact assembly before the ratchet assembly. Such a design allows very high output torques with minimal effort on the operator, and prevents the common injury of slamming one's knuckles into some part of the equipment when the fastener tightens down and the torque suddenly increases. Specialty designs are available for certain applications, such as removing crankshaft pulleys without removing the radiator in a vehicle.
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He subsequently published photographs of the scale with the drive stopped and running. The June 1960 cover of Astounding magazine featured a painting of a United States submarine near Mars, supposedly propelled there by a Dean drive. Cover picture by John Schoenherr; the submarine is designated "USSS-1" and 578, so presumably modeled on . Dean, who was trying to find potential buyers for his technology, was secretive about the details of how it was supposed to work, but it was said to contain asymmetrical rotating weights and to generate a great deal of vibration. Dean and Campbell claimed that Newton’s laws of motion were only an approximation, and that Dean had discovered a fourth law of motion. This has been described as a nonlinear correction to one of Newton’s laws, which, if correct, would allegedly have rendered a reactionless drive feasible after all.
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In The Wailing Asteroid Leinster makes tacit reference to three themes that are worth mentioning: The story of a lone inventor devising a reactionless space drive and then, with a small team, building a spaceship around it and taking to another celestial body provides the foundation of the adventure that H. G. Wells laid out in First Men in the Moon (1901). In what seems a remarkable coincidence, both The Wailing Asteroid and Edmond Hamilton’s The Haunted Stars (1960) present the human race as the descendants of an alien garrison, whose abandoned base astronauts discover on another body of our solar system. In a small side adventure, Joe Burke and his team are accidentally teleported to an alien planet many light years from Earth. They infer that the people who built the base on Asteroid M-387 had used spaceships cruising slower than light to carry “matter transposers” through space as a means of spreading themselves throughout the galaxy.
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