Image: Luis M. Molina/Gizmodo (Getty Images)
Five years ago, NASA researchers experimented with an object called the EmDrive (or electromagnetic drive), a Y-shaped metal chamber in which, they reported, thrust could be produced without propellant. Such a contraption would refute core principles of physics as we know them and eliminate a huge barrier to deep space travel by nullifying the need to carry fuel. Ultimately, the hope riding on EmDrive was that propellant-less thrusters would make travel to distant objects, like the outer solar system and even nearby extrasolar systems like Alpha Centauri, manageable in human timescales.
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Image: Wikimedia Commons (Fair Use)