This NASA-Proven Engine Might Change Space Travel Forever

Have you ever wondered what a Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma thruster is? You might have, and not even realized it. The engine, seen above, is considered a bit of an anomaly. Previously laughed-off as science fiction nonsense, the actual engine has been built by two separate teams, and verified by NASA as legitimately usable.

The engine was initially scoffed at, with top minds saying it violated all known theories of propulsion. The entire scheme violates Newton's Laws of Motion — which for the jet propulsion crowd — mean an accelerant must fuel a rocket. This engine uses no fuel, and can even be powered by solar energy.

So how does this engine accomplish combustion without fuel? Microwaves bouncing off one another in a controlled environment. The microwaves are generated by electricity, which can be created any way we know how, even via the sun (or a potato). The absence of fuel means the thruster can, in theory, work forever so long as the hardware doesn't break down.

The engine was first tested by a team of Chinese scientists in 2009, who found it to work. Originally imagined by Roger Shawyer, this EmDrive was recently built by an American scientist named Guido Fetta. Working with NASA, Fetta showed the engine was capable of producing thrust.

While the engine NASA tested doesn't produce enough thrust to power a rocket to the moon and back, it is much more important. This engine — which works, and has been proven by two separate teams who did not work together — can produce a nearly infinite amount of energy and thrust. Those times you wondered how the crew of the Enterprise got around, pouncing on warp speeds as they saw fit?

Yeah, it was something like this.

Via: Wired UK