BLOW IT OUT YOUR EXHAUST NOZZLE (C)1998 Alan M. Schwartz As Scotty of the original "Star Trek" declaimed, "Ye canna' break the laws of physics!" NASA's panties are in a twist. They must get from here to there, there being way out there, with the appalling Space Shuttle as cargo carrier. This is tantamount to shipping a bull elephant as White Castle hamburger patties. NASA bureaucracy fancies it can indeed break the laws of physics, at least in budget proposals: The NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics (BPP) program launched a call for research projects. Momentum is conserved. Nothing wholly enclosed within the cosmos can elude it. (Quantum vacuum zero point fluctuations can diddle re stochastic electrodynamics, which has no hinted reduction to practice, though it might switch off inertia and make the whole space travel momentum problem a moot point). Momentum conservation gives /_\V'=V[ln(M/M')] where /_\V' is the vehicle's velocity change, V is its exhaust velocity, M is its starting mass, M' is its ending mass, and "ln" is a natural logarithm. If you vent 99.9% of your vehicle's mass (tonne of propellant for every kilogram retained), you can maximally achieve 6.91 times your exhaust's velocity in a one stage rocket. Multiple stage rockets achieve higher velocities, but the mass ratio tossed to retained balloons exponentially. NASA is stuck with horribly long flight times, merely to Mars, with huge price tags. NASA has a wish list. (1) Discover propulsion methods which dramatically reduce or eliminate the need for propellant; Tilt. Chemical exhaust velocity is limited to around Mach 3 (specific impulses near 450-525 seconds). Ion engines, little nuclear accelerators, give exhausts touching a percent of lightspeed or more (specific impulses around 2500 to 10,000 seconds). Mass moved/second is negligible, so the effect is only useful over summed long periods. Nobody has any idea how to run the thing (energy is conserved, kinetic energy=(mv^2)/2) without a massive nuclear power plant. There is nothing in near space which can be grabbed, harvest, or hooked to any useful end. Fission or fusion as propellant is expensive, messy, and silly. (2) Discover methods for achieving the shortest possible travel times (includes the study of methods to circumvent observed limits); Tilt. If you travel normal space you are stuck with what you already have. If you alter the shape of space, it will be classified and weaponized (and your security clearance canceled, followed by your temporary, which is to say permanent, detainment in the deepest hole possible). Nobody has the slightest idea how to grab the space-time continuum short of large accretions of concentrated mass, which is the problem (conservation of momentum) with which we grappled at the onset. (3) Discover new modes of on-board energy generation to power the propulsion devices. Hoo boy! Goodbye classical thermodynamics! Note that witches fly their broomsticks bristle ends forward and horizontal, holding burning candles to light their way. NASA will consider the coupling of fundamental forces, force-producing effects, contents and properties of space, the motion of matter and energy through space-time, interactions with space-time, energy exchange mechanisms, energy sources, and observed anomalous effects. NASA is hoping to shake fairy dust off Tinkerbelle's butt so they can fly. First, we have to find Tinkerbelle... NASA is nothing if not hopeful. It offers garish Welfare for slick researchers who can spin fanciful tales of "Star Trek" and "Battlestar Gallactica," or Flash Gordon and Dr. Zharkov. The NASA Research Announcement Internet URL itself is telling: http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/EPS/LeRC/Synopses/NRA-99-LeRC-1/synopsis.html It leads one to suspect the whole deal is fat and padded from the get-go. Folks from outside the favored inner circle need not apply unless accompanied by a working model of their proposal. If you as a nascent inventor aspire to less rarefied domains, - NASA SBIR and STTR's: http://sbir.nasa.gov/. - NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC): http://www.niac.usra.edu. - Department of Energy "Inventions & Innovation Program": http://www.oit.doe.gov/Access/inventions/preproposal.html. Junk the execrable political porkbarrel Space Shuttle and build an honest heavy lifter - high capacity, no bullshit, no human aboard to parasitize payload with life support, Official safety, and return capability. Colonize Luna starting with umanned transport of equipment and supplies; add people at the end. Thereafter launch from 1/6 gravity and no atmosphere. The first lunar tunnel will heave the United Nations ballistic as squealing petty dwarf states demand an end to the invasion (and desecration of fragile and endangered virgin ecological niches) of the moon. Oh how they will scream! Into vacuum. The meek shall inherit the Earth. The strong will conquer the stars.