The author of a new study on the subject is exploring the Physics behind a workable Warp drive
“To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
The fascinating mission statement of the science fiction series ‘Star Trek’ incited the exploratory curiosity. Easier said than done though. The starships shown in the series traveled at warp speeds — faster than the speed of light. Forget having a practical working warp drive, providing a working theory was a challenge in itself… at least until now.
The challenge emanates from the hard cosmic speed limit placed in Einstein’s general theory of relativity where nothing can travel at the speed of light. Originally, Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a theory in 1994, that an object could warp space-time in front of itself to travel faster than the speed of light.
The theoretical idea behind what came to be known as ‘Alcubierre Drive’ was that a “wave bubble” would be created around the object (spaceship), which creates an area of contracting space in front and expanding space behind it. The object inside the bubble does not need to go at the speed of light or faster but ride the wave itself which provides the warp speed propulsion (infographic below).
There are a number of problems with this theory.
❶ How do we create a warp bubble?
❷ And if we are able to create one & get a spaceship inside it, how will we get it out once it reaches its destination?
❸ Finally, the biggest problem of them all is how we would provide for an improbable amount of energy that the creation of such a bubble requires? (current estimates put it at the total energy of the mass of Jupiter)
“I think others share a similar opinion, there’s a desire to see how science fiction inspires people to make those technologies a reality, and how they can improve our quality of life or open new doors for exploration and learning.” ~ Researcher Joseph Agnew
An undergraduate student, Joseph Agnew, at the University of Alabama, Huntsville is one of the leading researchers working on the possibility of making this idea work with the development of cutting edge technology. He presented his ideas to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Propulsion and Energy Forum in Indianapolis this summer.
Agnew pointed out that initial estimates of requiring all the energy in the universe to create such a bubble have come down drastically to the equivalent of Jupiter’s mass. Scientists have suggested tweaking of other factors in Alcubierre’s design to bring down the energy requirement to an even smaller object.
Researchers also expect that scientific advances in quantum physics, quantum mechanics and metamaterials can enable mankind to produce the requisite energy to power such warp bubbles. The idea may not be as far fetched as it looks right now. You can gauge this from the fact that NASA is already exploring the creation of a warp bubble.
Although we might still be a few decades away from any such possibility, the exponential pace of technological progress might make this stuff of science fiction into a real-world possibility. And if we really want to venture into deep space, we would need something like a warp drive anyways — considering the fact that the nearest major galaxy Andromeda is a staggering 2.573 million light-years away.
The full research is published on the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics website.
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