NASA validates seemingly impossible space thruster

I am sure that any ship used for such an endeavour would have the ability to cope with pressure leaks, holes etc.
And while 1 in 4 may have mental problems, not all those problems lead to such actions as you suggest, plus the endeavour would undoubtedly involve fairly rigorous psychological screening beforehand, and on-going within the mission itself. Yes, I'm sure any such long-term voyage would need to have their very own Deanna Troi.

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But then what happens if the ship's psychotherapist goes insane?

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Two problems with this ridiculous tempest in a tea pot.
1) The "quantum vacuum virtual plasma" experiment was conducted in air, not vacuum. "Testing was performed on a low-thrust torsion pendulum that is capable of detecting force at a single-digit micronewton level, within a stainless steel vacuum chamber with the door closed but at ambient atmospheric pressure. "
2) The results don't match the claim of specific engineering to take advantage of "quantum vacuum virtual plasma". "Thrust was observed on both test articles, even though one of the test articles was designed with the expectation that it would not produce thrust."

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20140006052
http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2014-4029

But instead of being any type of EM effect at all, it might come down to differential heating and what separates the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crookes_radiometer from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichols_radiometer

 

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perhaps rpenner - again, this is why NASA has said it must be studied more. However, the implications, if this is accurate, are truly impressive - not just for this device itself, but more in the aspect of if this device can do it and produce a low amount of thrust, perhaps it is possible to garner larger thrust from a similar idea. It's exciting is all

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I think any criticism here should not be aimed at the scientists (who only seem to be testing the idea, not claiming it works) but with the reporting that perhaps suggests more plausibility than there may yet be grounds for.
'Tis all well and good considering the implications, and it's exciting if it works, and can be shown to work, but until then it is as exciting as LENR.

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But are they scientists? Or just engineers involved in tooth-fairy (pseudo-)science of trying to measure the "quantum vacuum virtual plasma" effect before establishing that it exists?

http://www.skepdic.com/toothfairyscience.html

Because both the "thruster" and "rock" produced a non-zero force measurement, are they measuring "quantum vacuum virtual plasma" thrust which logically requires testing in progressively harder vacuums or mere convection in a small, air-filled chamber which may have had temperature irregularities before being converted into a low-wattage microwave oven?

 

I'd be interested in reading the actual paper because the abstract has some issues:

-They start off saying they are only testing, not getting into the theory, then say their results support the theory.
-they say thrust was produced even with the control test, strongly implying experimental error.

 

if this experiment created the same force in vacuum conditions, than they got themselves a contract, in my opinion.

 

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amusing.
i do not care if you believe me.
it's as simple as,
look into it.

as if prison is a comparable scenario.

if you notice the words you use makes a massive difference
example,
" I am aware of " ,
" The problem with any such endurance testing " ,
" The risks involved with the actual missions simply can't be replicated ethically in trials. ",
" their own opinions ",
" you questioning their intelligence. ",
" But other than studies on the prison population, ",
" I am not aware of that many studies, projects or tests on long-term isolation, let alone any that conclude that isolation leads inexorably to insanity as you seem to claim. ",

this is called,
running your mouth with complete ignorance.
again,
try to look into it.
there are hand full of government projects on this.
exactly designed for space travel over long periods.

since i can not stand you
i'm going to tell you to figure it out your self.

 

krash, he is right though - if you make a claim, you have to provide some evidence to back it - telling someone to go find it isn't acceptable.

At least, that used to be the forum policy... whether that still is or not seems to be debatable...

 

nine times out of ten,
it's the attitude of why i don't supply " support/evidence "

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what ever happened to individuals taking the rein of their own learning and/or evolving.
now days, everyone wants to rely on spoon feeding.
i spent almost ten years of my life doing my own learning and evolving.
no one spoon fed me anything.
and even if i did give a freaking link,
then what ?
they will still claim not true,
just so they can argue.
in a sense,
there's no point to do so.
even when i do post a link for " evidence/support ",
no one reads it anyways.
there are topics that show this. a couple just recently.

 

Understood, and trust me I can appreciate that - but technically speaking, the rules do state that it is the responsibility of the one making the claim to substantiate it.

 

Kittamaru, we have no room nor need for your mature, considerate, even-handed responses around here.

 

Given the large numbers of sea voyages in our history undertaken by small crews - often lasting months or years - I don't see this as an insurmountable problem.

 

Thank you, I needed those

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after the day I had at work XD

 

because that's no even close to long periods of space travel.
let alone of researching documentation of these sea voyages where people went insane..
everyone is attempting to compare apples to oranges.
do not take part in other individuals nonsense.
expand your mind,
look into what i stated.
simple.

there are hand full of government projects on this.
exactly designed for space travel over long periods.

 

Well, we know that sea voyages of years are possible with very small crews. Presumably larger crews provide more insulation against insanity due to boredom or routine.

Oh, I think it's a risk - just not an insurmountable one, or even the biggest one.

 

when it comes to interstellar travel or even traveling to the heliopause ,
human is the issue.
not the propulsion(the issue with this is radiation exposure,which is not an issue) or craft, but the human.
it's a response from the subconscious.
come to find out, humans need physical interaction with other beings.
isolation in space for what human calls long periods,
is quite different than what , so far, every one has tried to compare.
sometimes it's that simple.
again,
look into what i stated.
there are hand full of government projects(from the 40's and on) on this.
exactly designed for space travel over long periods.

 

also look into
how astronauts have to go through psychological exercises and test,
just to go live on the iss for months.

 

they used to live for months up there, back in MIR station but now ISS has got everyone living in space a week at most.