Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The QDrive: A Revolutionary Engine for Spacecraft


Boing Boing listed this article about an engine called The QDrive - which is a "radiation pressure imbalance" drive for space travel.

Over at Cannae LLC in Pennsylvania,they describe the QDrive as
  • a resonating cavity with design features that redirect the radiation pressure exerted in the cavity to create a radiation pressure imbalance on the cavity. This differential in radiation pressure generates an unbalanced force that creates thrust. The cavity is accelerated without use of propellant.

You know what came to mind first? Remember that old cartoon with Wile E. Coyote and the Road-Runner, where Wile E. puts on skates, ties a water tub to the skates and a outboard engine to his waist with the prop in the tub of water. Pulling the starter string sends him off after the Road-runner. Remember? Even as a child I often wondered first, why the crazy Coyote wasn't dead and second it that rigging could really work! I get that feeling off this Q thing....

I honestly thought I was seeing a new type of electric razor head unit....hah

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I noticed they have a Joel Hodgson on their staff - you know the guy from MST3K. Wonder if that means something.

Beam Me Up said...

Anon
GREAT FIND! whoooooooo hoooooooo! I was calling BS on it just as a matter of physics but you have found something that really spins it up!
This could be something fun.

Thanks for the heads up!

William C said...

The Big Question is, will it make a Delorean fly?

Device sorta looks like a Hub cap to me.

Beam Me Up said...

William...yes...inquiring minds want to know. I doubt it would make a Shoe Fly

Hub cap is a good guess, mid 60s Ford
Galaxy 500 looked vaguely like that.

Anonymous said...

This is the same tired snake oil that has been shilled for years.

The authors fail to understand that, without propellant, all forces in their models always balance out. There is always a net force of zero.

This is, at best, wishful thinking.

Beam Me Up said...

I really got the feel Anon, that even the author was reporting a bit tongue in cheek.

Just looking at some of the "board" members it is much easier to call BS the numbers...well what can you say about differences that could be margin of error even under the best of circumstances.

Anonymous said...

I always wondered what a norelco shaver head looked like dissasembled.