Warp Drive Propulsion Theory

1
Warp Drive Propulsion Theory

• John L. Carrasco
• Astronomy 308
• 07 August 2006

2
Space The Final Frontier

• Man has always dreamed of exploring space.
• The Mercury and Apollo missions took us farther
  than ever dreamed possible.
• But what of our space accomplishments lately.
• The Space Shuttle, deep space probes, but little
  else.

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What is limiting our exploration?

• Certainly not imagination.
• Probes and satellite imagery continue to explore
  far beyond our Solar System.
• What is limiting us?
• Our present technology
• Time Constraints
• Finances

4
The reality of space travel (In todays terms)

• Expensive
• Fuel and training do not come cheap
• Technology and Time
• Closest star Proxima Centauri (at 4.2 Light
  Years distance).
• At a speed of 150,000 MPH, it would still take
  almost 18,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri.
• The space shuttle maxes out at a robust 25,404
  feet/second. Still too slow

5
What is there to be done?...

• Mr. Scott, warp speed
• But what is warp speed?
• Who created the idea?
• Is it even possible?

6
The Problem with Faster than Light Travel

• Einstein and the Theory of General Relativity.
• EMc2
• Why faster than light travel is impossible with
  our current means of propulsion (minus
  wormholes).
• As speed increases, energy demands increase. Mass
  (of the vehicle) also increases.
• Both mass and fuel demand will eventually
  increase to infinity, making propelling a vehicle
  faster than light impossible.

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The Alcubierre Drive

• Miguel Alcubierre
• Mexican physicist
• Proposed a method of faster than light travel
  that could be a solution for Einsteins General
  Relativity.
• Commonly referred to as the Alcubierre Drive or
  warp drive.

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The basics of the Alcubierre Warp Drive

• 1994 Journal of Classical and Quantum Gravity
• The ship would ride along space inside a warp
  bubble.
• Since the ship itself is not moving, it is not
  subject to the rules of general relativity.

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The Warp Bubble
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The Alcubierre Drive, continued

• 1994 Journal of Classical and Quantum Gravity
  (continued).
• A method of stretching space in a wave, causing
  the space ahead of a spacecraft to contract.
• It would also cause the space behind the
  spacecraft to expand.

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Stretching and contracting space
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Science Fiction meets Science Fact (sort of)

• The Star Trek Franchise.
• The Contemporary Warp Scale (according to Star
  Trek).
• The speeds achieved by the vehicles (starships)
  are faster than anything today
• But still slow enough to allow space to remain
  large and mysterious.
• to boldly go where no one has gone before

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The Contemporary Warp Scale (continued)

• Warp Factor x c
  Velocity
• Warp 1 1 c
  3.0x105 km/s
• Warp 2 10.079 c
  3.0x106 km/s
• Warp 3 38.941 c
  1.2x107 km/s
• Warp 4 101.59 c
  3.0x107 km/s
• Warp 5 213.75 c
  6.4x107 km/s
• Warp 6 392.50 c
  1.2x108 km/s
• Warp 7 656.13 c
  2.0x108 km/s
• Warp 8 1,024 c
  3.1x108 km/s
• Warp 9 1,516.4 c
  4.5x108 km/s
• Warp 9.2 1,649 c
  4.9x108 km/s
• Warp 9.6 1,909 c
  5.7x108 km/s
• Warp 9.9 3,053 c
  9.2x108 km/s
• Warp 9.9753 6,000 c
  1.8x109 km/s
• Warp 9.99 7,912 c
  2.3x109 km/s
• Let c the speed of light

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Energy Usage of the Warp Scale
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How fast are these speeds?

• At Warp 1, you could reach the Moon (from the
  Earth) in 1.34 seconds!
• At Warp 2, you could travel across the Solar
  System in 1 hour!!
• At Warp 5, you could reach Proxima Centauri
  (nearest star) in 9 days!!!
• At Warp 9, Proxima Centauri is only 1 day
  away!!!!

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Works Cited

• Alcubierre Drive
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive
• The Warp Drive hyper-fast travel within general
  relativity
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/364496.stm
• The Contemporary Warp Scale
• http//trekmania.net/the_fleet/utopia/fleet/neworl
  eans.htm
• Sci/Tech Warp Drive Possible
• http//members.tripod.com/da_theoretical1/wdtheory
  .html
• Warp Drive (Star Trek)
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_drive