The "impossible motor" and what is so problematic with it?

"Project Pluto"
(Picture I)

Kimmo Huosionmaa

There would be no motor, what can work without propellant. There is little bit difference between fuel and propellant in rocket technology. Fuel is the thing, what gives power supply for those spacecraft, and propellant is the thing, what gives thrust for the rocket. In the case of electromagnetic or nuclear rockets is very important to separate terms propellant and fuel, because those motors don’t need fire for giving speed for those spacecraft.


The  so-called impossible motor is one part of so-called electric drive motors, what would use electromagnetic radiation for giving speed for spacecraft. I sometimes wonder, why that team uses microwaves because the radio frequency would be safer, and the system could be cooler. Those motors cannot even work in the atmosphere, because the full thrust force of the electromagnetic radiation is so small.  This motor uses electrons or radio-waves as a propellant, and that's why they would not break the laws of physics.



In some scenarios in the rockets, burning camper would create the electric arc, and hydrogen would drive thru it, and it would give very high speed for that rocket. But the pure electromagnetic rockets would use only the radiation, what gives the very high-speed impulse to back but the problem is very low thrust, what means that this rocket must shoot to space, by using conventional rockets, and then that spaceship would accelerate near the speed of light by using some other motor solutions.



So those rockets must launch to empty space that those motors can be work. Those electromagnetic motors are in theory use photons or radio waves to accelerate the spaceship to the speed of light. There are three types of electromagnetic rockets, what are planned. They are pure electromagnetic motors, what uses photons, radio- or microwaves to create the thrust. Another way is to anti-matter to create the thrust or third way is to use the magnetic field to accelerate the atomic particles. When the electromagnetic motor work, it actually needs fuel to create electricity for its transmitters. And when we are looking at that kind of motor, we can say that the thing, what gives thrust to the rocket is called as a propellant. So those motors actually use electrons or photons as a propellant.



There is one problem, and it is very low thrust, what means that the spacecraft must accelerate near the speed of light by using some other rocket systems like antimatter. That would give that rocket the speed, what is near the speed of light, and then the radio-motor would be started, and that would allow the spacecraft to fly to the speed of light. There is one version of those radio-motors what might have the capacity to fly in atmosphere. That motor is called as "electric arc jet motor". In this particular motor, the radio-waves are made for creating the electric arc in the tube, and that would replace burning in some very powerful engines. That motor would look similar, then what is created for "Project Pluto".



In that project , U.S Air Force created an idea of the nuclear jet motor, where in the middle of the ramjet-motor would be installed nuclear reactor, what would warm the air, what would drive backward of that motor. But when political atmosphere turned against that kind of solutions, started NASA think about the possibility, that this nuclear reactor would be replaced by using electric arc. And when this motor would be equipped with flap system, what was planned to be similar, what was used in V-1 "Flying bomb" could be possible to make the motor, that uses air as a propellant. Also, there were plans to make aircraft, what uses electric arcs to hang in the air. In those planes would be the chamber in the middle of them, and if there would make the electric arc, with power what is enough high, would that allow the aircraft to fly in the atmosphere.



That rocket would use fuel cells to make very high voltage, what makes electric arc under that plane. And in this case, the electric arc works like the fire under heat air balloons, what are used for centuries. Many of those robots are at the theoretical level, and the solutions would be waiting many years. But one spacecraft have used ion motors while traveling in the asteroid belt. and that would give change to develop more powerful and sophisticated rockets for the space exploration, and maybe we would travel to another planet by using some of those rockets, what are only pictures in the papers.

Sources:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/nasa-impossible-emdrive-physics-peer-review-space-science/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Timberwind

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto

https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/mullistavalle-mahdottomalle-moottorille-iso-takaisku-uuden-testin-mukaan-maan-magneettikentta-vaaristi-aikaisempia-lupaavia-testituloksia/

Picture I

https://scottlocklin.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/pluto1.jpg