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tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,428

Mach Effect Dr. James Woodward Support for Research - Updates

For SpaceNut ...

It appears that no one in the NewMars membership created a topic for the Mach effect and specifically for the research done by Dr. James Woodword and associates over many years.

This topic is offered for NewMars members to post updates on the work.

I decided to create this topic after watching a video about the research.

What is scary (to me for sure) is that I think I understand why at least two government agencies have invested in the research.

The concept is to accelerate mass (in the form of energy).

Since energy necessarily has very little mass, it should not be surprising that the thrust created by sending energy out the tail pipe is small.

If I understand the process correctly, it is like sending a photon out the tail pipe.  You can certainly do that, and there will be a Newtonian reaction, but the reaction will be correspondingly small.

In a nutshell, if I understand the process correctly, the experiment assembles some energy at the front end of the device, and accelerates that energy toward the rear of the device.  The key concept is to release the energy so that the momentum imparted to the space craft is not nullified by stopping the force on it's way to the far end of the Universe.

Thus, in a rocket of this type, energy is invested in making mass to accelerate, and energy is invested in accelerating the mass.  In other words, if I am understanding the concept correctly, no one is trying for a free lunch here. Instead, this is exactly the same process as used to accelerate ** any ** rocket in space ... A mass is drawn from stores and placed so it can be accelerated. The mass is accelerated, and it is released from the vehicle.  The momentum of the departing mass is matched by an equal and opposite force in the opposite direction. 

There is no magic, and more importantly, there is no mystery.

The challenge for investors is that the forces at work are small, as in photon mass small, or less.

(th)

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,428

Re: Mach Effect Dr. James Woodward Support for Research - Updates

this post is reserved for an index to posts NewMars members may contribute over time.

While it is unlikely anyone in the NewMars membership will attempt to replicate the work done by Dr. Woodward, the scale of the experimental apparatus is small, so it is potentially replicable by anyone with the needed resources.

Useful additions to this topic would be calculation of the vanishingly small forces in play here.

What is not useful is skepticism that is based upon absence of knowledge.

Absence of knowledge can be remedied with a bit of work.

(th)

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,428

Re: Mach Effect Dr. James Woodward Support for Research - Updates

This post is to show a set of snippets collected by Google, to show resources available to learn more about the Mach effect and the work of Dr. Woodward.

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About 51,700 results (0.34 seconds)

BWP 2016: 24. Dr. James Woodward "Mach Effect Concepts ...

YouTube · SSI: Space Studies Institute
9.6K+ views · 7 years ago

47:47
"The Mach Effect: Concepts and Experiments" Dr. James Woodward, Professor of History, Adjunct Professor of Physics, California State ...

9 key moments
in this video
Missing: grant | Show results with: grant

James Woodward - Mach Effect Propulsion & The MEGA Drive

YouTube · Tim Ventura
3.8K+ views · 1 year ago

1:34:48
... research and recent experimental test results for prototype drive systems. Unlike conventional technologies, drives based on the Mach Effect ...
10 key moments
in this video
Missing: grant | Show results with: grant

James Woodward - Mach Effects & MEGA-Drive

YouTube · Tim Ventura
3.1K+ views · 12 months ago

39:57
Dr. James Woodward discusses Mach Effect Propulsion & the MEGA Drive, which hopes to leverage transient mass fluctuations as the basis for a ...

10 key moments
in this video
Missing: study | Show results with: study

APEC 9/17, Part #1 – James Woodward – Mach-Effect ...

YouTube · Alt Propulsion
660+ views · 1 year ago

2:01:14
https://www.altpropulsion.com - Dr. James Woodward will discuss The Mach Effect , which postulates that energy-storing ions experience ...
Missing: study | Show results with: study

SSI APW 2018: 1. James Woodward

YouTube · SSI: Space Studies Institute
2.2K+ views · 5 years ago

1:22:36
Prof. James Woodward on Mach Effect Recent Experiments at CSU Fullerton. Space Studies Institute Advanced Propulsion Workshop 2018.
10 key moments
in this video
Missing: grant | Show results with: grant

NASA-funded scientist says 'MEGA drive' could enable ...

Big Think
https://bigthink.com › hard-science › mach-effect-thruster
Sep 7, 2020 — The drive would provide enough thrust for a spacecraft to travel near the speed of light using only electricity, says physicist Jim Woodward ...
People also ask
What is the Mach effect of the Woodward effect?
What is the Mach effect theory?
Feedback

James Woodward - Mach's Principle for Reactionless Propulsion

YouTube · Tim Ventura
1.1K+ views · 2 years ago

47:31
James Woodward - Mach's Principle for Reactionless Propulsion · Comments2.

9 key moments
in this video
Missing: video grant

Exotic Propulsion Initiative

Space Studies Institute
https://ssi.org › exotic-propulsion-initiative
An intriguing and thoughtful recent book by Professor Jim Woodward, Making Starships and Stargates: The Science of Interstellar Transport and Absurdly Benign ...

Ultimate EV: This NASA-Funded Space Drive Requires No ...

Forbes
https://www.forbes.com › Innovation › Consumer Tech
Feb 3, 2021 — James Woodward, professor emeritus at Fullerton, and inventor of the Mach Effect space drive.

SSI Exotic Propulsion Initiative

Space Studies Institute
https://ssi.org › programs › ssi-exoticpropulsioninitiative
NEWS April 2, 2018: The SSI NIAC Team has just been selected for a Phase 2 grant for continuing support of the research and development of Mach Effect ...
Related searches

(th)

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,428

Re: Mach Effect Dr. James Woodward Support for Research - Updates

As a follow up, I have a request for our members who are good at math....

If I understand the Woodward work correctly, the idea is to create (very small) thrust by investing energy to create a tiny bit of artificial mass in the form of an electromagnetic structure and accelerate that tiny mass away from the engine.  The method adheres to Newton's laws in every way. The advantage of the method is that no mass must be drawn from a supply of throwmass that all ordinary rockets require.

The tradeoff is that the mass to be accelerated is small. That is small as in ** photon ** mass small.

However, an ordinary parabolic reflector that focuses radio waves from our deep space explorers is imparting a very small (tiny) impulse to the space craft every time it sends a message to Earth.

The challenge I would offer for our math talented members is to compute the thrust that an ordinary radio reflector system imparts to a space craft in deep space. No mass is expended in these transmissions.  Energy is consumed, as the radio isotope power package decays and produces (very small) electric current.

I would be interested in seeing the thrust imparted to the Voyagers, for example.

Then, if we have members willing to tackle a larger scale, please compute the force that might be generated if a megawatt of power is invested in generating a radio beam toward the rear of a space craft in open space.  The force will not be zero. We know that because solar sails have been successfully deployed by the Planetary Society and others.  The force will be small.  i'm sure of that, or it would have been harnessed before now.

(th)

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,428

Re: Mach Effect Dr. James Woodward Support for Research - Updates

This forum has members who are good at Internet searches...

Skill in performing Internet searches is different from skill in performing mathematics...

In this post, I am hoping to enlist our members who are skilled in performing Internet searches to look for any reports there may be of studies of the use of electromagnetic radiation to produce thrust (or a change of momentum).

The field of solar sailing is well established.  Estimates of the amount of "thrust" (momentum change force) that may be obtained from a solar sail would be helpful. The amount of power needed to generate photons that have the desired effect should be knowable.

A self-powered solar sail is where I am headed with this....

We (humans) have published studies showing that a powerful laser can drive a very light weight solar sail on Interstellar missions.

The science of photon propulsion is now well established.

What I'm hoping our members can find are studies showing how much thrust a self powered solar sail can generate.

We have competing technologies in the same space... the ion drive is similar but it has the disadvantage of requiring onboard mass to throw. 

A photon powered thruster can generate it's own mass to throw. That is the essence of the decades of research performed by Dr. James Woodward and associates. 

The question I am asking is.... given the constraint of making your own mass to throw, what performance is possible in the Real Universe?

Does a megawatt of radio transmission provide a gram of force on the parabolic reflector in deep space?  I have no idea, but I think the answer is knowable.

(th)