this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
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Although not peer reviewed or replicated, a NASA veteran claims their Propellantless Propulsion Drive, that physics says shouldn’t work, just produced enough thrust to overcome Earth’s gravity (thedebrief.org)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] jordanlund 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

They did this on Mythbusters in small scale years ago and the science of it is fascinating.

I don't think it would do much to break orbit, but once IN space it could be interesting.

https://youtu.be/UCiU96rJJoo

This is what they were testing:

https://youtu.be/006d36WWyaQ

You take a lightweight balsawood frame, wrap it in tinfoil and lightweight wire, then pump high voltages through it.

https://hackaday.com/2016/07/13/expanding-horizons-with-the-ion-propelled-lifter/

[–] macarthur_park 34 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Note that what the mythbusters looked at was a form of ion propulsion. The high voltage on the sharp boundary of the aluminum foil repels air molecules. If you put one of those in a vacuum (or space) it wouldn’t have any thrust.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

If you put one of those in a vacuum (or space) it wouldn’t have any thrust.

IIRC, the MythBusters did exactly that later in the episode. Unsurprisdngly, the devices produced no thrust in a vacuum chamber.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago

That isn’t propellant-less. The propellant is air, and in space where there is no atmosphere they typically use xeon gas