A Rocket Engine That Seems to Break a Law of Physics...But Works

Eliza Mahoney
Physics .1 Per. G
23 November 2016
Blog Post #3


It has long been a dream of NASA scientists to create an engine that could propel astronauts to Mars in 70 days without burning any fuel. Now, a new paper written by astrophysicists at NASA's Eagleworks Laboratories, says that this idea might really work. The astrophysicists tested an electromagnetic propulsion system, or "EM drive", that creates thrust by simply bouncing microwaves around a cone-shaped copper chamber. Somehow the engine works to move things, even with no propellant in and no exhaust out.

Newton's third law of motion is, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

A traditional jet engine works according to Newton's third law of motion: hot gases are driven out of the back of the plane, which produces a thrusting force, propelling the plane forward. But, the EM drive produces a thrusting force by the impact of photons on the walls of the copper cavity. A real-life example of this would be moving a car just by pounding on the windshield! 

Somehow, the Eagleworks scientists report that the EM drive created 1.2 millinewtons of thrust per kilowatt of electricity pumped in. That amount of electricity could come from solar panels in a spaceship! 

Could this experiment, that defies a central law of motion, actually lead to a completely new spaceship engine? Or, could it just be a dead-end project charged by fantasy? We will have to see!