Constellation Carina, 20,000 Light Years Away. Warp 9. Engage!
To the layman our modes of space travel can seem a little mundane. Giant boosters strapped to a rocket ship or built into it blast gallons upon gallons of fuel to propel the rocket into space. The closest propulsion engines in existence to the imagination of man are the ion engines that propelled the Deep Space 1 and Dawn missions. It’s the imagination of man that fuels the NASA space agency, and it’s the imagination of man that criticizes it at the same time. Because while the imagination of man might provide the drive to go forward, it also provides an unrealistic expectation of results.
Recently at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, FL a group of Star Wars filmmakers and fans took the time out of collecting swag and spending money to stop by the NASA booth. They didn’t stop by just to pick up a pamphlet for the Kennedy Space Center, they stopped by to talk space travel. Specifically, faster than light space travel. You know, warp drives. While warp drives appear to have been used in Star Wars, most are familiar with them from Star Trek. Yes, this is another GeekDad post that mentions both Star Wars and Star Trek.
The fans expressed that they’d like to see warp capabilities within their lifetime. While NASA is currently exploring new technologies, we have a better chance of seeing blaster rifles make an appearance before hyperdrive. Not to forget as well that NASA has direct ties with the military, and a lot of research and development has taken place under a military imposed black cloud. If they are working on a hyperdrive, you can bet your arduino that we won’t know about it until it’s in use.
“I don’t think it’s too much of Star Wars fans to ask NASA to research exotic propulsion,” advanced propulsion expert Richard Obousy told Discovery News. “However, I do think it’s far too high an expectation that NASA will deliver any kind of faster-than-light ‘hyperdrive’ in the foreseeable future.”
Plus, there is a lot to figure out first. Discovering hyperdrive, being able to bend the fabric of the spacetime continuum, and that tricky little thing known among the physics community as “negative energy.” Negative energy is a hypothetical based on the presence of “exotic matter” which is based on something called “tachyons.” Which don’t exist. Though those do sound familiar. Name an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where they didn’t mention something about a “tachyon.”
So to be specific, there are two possible modes of interstellar space travel. Either warp drive or wormholes. So the presumption is that hyperdrive is the same as warp drive, even though the Millennium Falcon has a Isu-Sim SSP05 hyperdrive generator. While it seemed that Sisko and the crew of the Defiant took their sweet time crossing through that wormhole, it should have been instantaneous, according to current theories about wormholes. However, wormholes don’t exist within the current laws of physics. Warp drive does, at least theoretically within the laws of physics it’s more plausible than creating wormholes.
“Warp drives are extremely speculative at this stage, and it would be irresponsible of me to suggest that a warp drive could ever be built,” Obousy added. “What does seem true, however, is that warp drives are allowed to exist within the known laws of physics, and can therefore be explored and investigated in a rigorous and scientific manner.”
Sadly, Star Wars and Star Trek fans are going to have some waiting to do. If scientists are working on warp drive capabilities, they are doing it in their spare time. Until someone comes up with a working theory, and not some drunk guy helped by the Enterprise crew, we aren’t going to be warping anytime soon. Not to mention the theories surrounding the actual bending of the space and the time. While it may seem like moments, hours or days to someone traveling at warp speed, it could be thousands of years passing outside of the warp bubble.
Recently we posted a piece questioning our place in the universe. When you consider Star Wars fans asking NASA for a warp drive, you have to consider the inhabitants of the universe they want to travel to. Planets like Hoth, Tattooine don’t seem like much fun. Then consider the Star Trek universe. Romulans, Klingons – the Borg! You know what NASA, if you are working on a warp drive, take your time. I don’t want to run into the Imperial Empire or the Borg anytime soon.
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Image: NASA
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