NASA tested an impossible space engine and it somehow worked

The Verge ^ | August 1, 2014 | Carl Franzen

[GeronL]

bump

but just try launching something that heavy right now

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“There are many reasons to be skeptical: the inventor of the Cannae Drive, Guido Fetta, has only a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and is operating his company Cannae as a for-profit venture.”

Inventor has only a BS in an unrelated field, confirmed by Chinese and Argentine scientists and even the negative control worked when tested by the affirmative action hirees at NASA. Results dont get any more solid than that.

[B4Ranch]

What would be the advantage of having humans explore the planet Mars? There isn’t sufficient water for plant life, there’s no oxygen and there’s no food. It seems to me this is just another way to piss away tax dollars.

[aquila48]

“There are many reasons to be skeptical: the inventor of the Cannae Drive, Guido Fetta, has only a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and is operating his company Cannae as a for-profit venture.”

UH?? The inventor has a degree in chemical engineering and operates a for-profit company, therefore it’s bogus??

I’m not familiar with “the Verge” - is this run by some snotty socialist?

[bunkerhill7]

Every day my satellite dish moves to the other side of the house all by itself and I have to move it back every night.

[OneWingedShark]

Cool story.
Thanks for sharing.

[citizen]

BFL

[RaveOn]

“Flying carpets, pishhhaahhh. Mohammed had a flying horse.”

Named Baraq, incidentally.

[SpaceBar]

Nothing mysterious nor does it appear to violate any physical laws. It simply relies on radiation pressure. The description is somewhat misleading regarding “no tradition fuels”, but generating microwaves obviously takes energy, usually electrical to drive klystron or magnetron tubes. So think of a wave guide (pringles can) attached to a nuclear battery. The poynting vector goes out the tube nozzle producing radiation pressure, and by conservation of linear momentum our battery and wave guide go the other way.

[Moonman62]

While the amount of thrust generated in these NASA's tests was lower than previous trials — between 30 and 50 micronewtons,

LOL. A plastic propeller and rubber band can do better.

[MrB]

We could power this thing with cold fusion, I’m sure.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

I’ve got an idea for a spaceship powered by a sharknado, think I can get some grant money?

[DannyTN]

Yeah, I thought that pointing out “for profit” as a reason to be skeptical was strange too.

[DannyTN]

Whats grey and red and bubbly all over?

Elephant in a microwave.

[NonValueAdded]

I wonder if that “weeks instead of months” thought includes deceleration?

[Cboldt]

cannae.com/theory-of-operation ... I think there is no exit port.

[ctdonath2]

I just heard “42” in the office not 2 minutes ago.

[DannyTN]

My brother read my copy of Adam’s books and came outside and said, “What was that guy on when he wrote that?”

[DannyTN]

The bistromatic drive was my favorite. The drive based on the speed of bad news seemed like it had great potential.

[dfwgator]

What would be the advantage of having humans explore the planet Mars?