Harold G. White

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Harold White
Harold Sonny White.jpg
NASA file photo of Harold "Sonny" White
Born
Harold Sonny White

(1965-10-08) 8 October 1965 (age 58)
Nationality American
Alma mater University of South Alabama (B.S.)
Wichita State University (M.S.)
Rice University (PhD)
Scientific career
Thesis Analysis of Low Frequency Whistler Wave Occurrences in the Nightside Venus Ionsphere (2007)

Harold G. "Sonny" White (born October 8, 1965) is a mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, and applied physicist who is known for proposing new Alcubierre drive concepts and promoting advanced propulsion projects.

Contents

Educational

White obtained a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from University of South Alabama, an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Wichita State University in 1999, [1] and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from Rice University in 2008. [2] [3]

Alcubierre "warp" drive

White attracted the attention of the press when he began presenting his ideas at space conventions and publishing proposals for Alcubierre drive concepts. In 2011, he released a paper titled Warp Field Mechanics 101 that outlined an updated concept of Miguel Alcubierre's faster-than-light propulsion concept, including methods to prove the feasibility of the project. Alcubierre's concept had been considered infeasible because it required far more power than any viable energy source could produce. White re-calculated the Alcubierre concept and proposed that if the warp bubble around a spacecraft were shaped like a torus, it would be much more energy efficient and make the concept feasible. White has stated that "warp travel" has not yet seen a "Chicago Pile-1" experiment, a reference to the very first nuclear reactor, the breakthrough demonstration that paved the way for nuclear power. [4] [5] [6]

To investigate the feasibility of a warp drive, White and his team have designed a warp field interferometer test bed to demonstrate warp field phenomena. The experiments are taking place at NASA's Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory ("Eagleworks") at the Johnson Space Center. [5] White and his team claim that this modified Michelson interferometer will detect distortion of spacetime, a warp field effect. [7]

In May 2021 White and his team announced that they might have found the right configuration required to test a "chip-scale" Alcubierre drive. [8] [9] [10]

EmDrive

In April 2015, the space enthusiast website NASASpaceFlight.com announced, based on a post on their site's forum by NASA Eagleworks engineer Paul March, that NASA had successfully tested their EM Drive in a hard vacuum – which would be the first time any organization has claimed such a successful test. [11] In November, 2016, Harold White, along with other colleagues at NASA's Eagleworks program published their findings on the proposed EM Drive. [12] The proposed principle of operation for this device was shown to be inconsistent with known laws of physics, including conservation of momentum and conservation of energy. No plausible theory of operation for such drives has been proposed. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

In March 2021, physicists at the Dresden University of Technology published three papers claiming that all results showing thrust were false positives, explained by outside forces. [19]

Other works

White and his team are also working on several other "breakthrough space technology" projects, including a new thruster concept, another concept White claims works by utilizing effects predicted by quantum mechanics. To support this research, White's team also is developing a "micro-balance" that is capable of measuring the extremely small forces predicted to be produced by this thruster. To calibrate this balance the team plans to repeat an unsuccessful 2006 Woodward effect experiment, this time using the new micro-balance. [20]

Awards

In 2006, White was awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal by the NASA administrator for his role in getting the Thermal Protection System robotic inspection tools built, delivered, and certified during the Space Shuttle's return to flight. [3] White has also received the Silver Snoopy Award from the NASA crew office for "his actions in the discovery and disposition of critical damage to the robotic arm prior to the Space Shuttle STS-121 mission." [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Faster-than-light travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light. The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero rest mass may travel at the speed of light, and that nothing may travel faster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstellar travel</span> Hypothetical travel between stars or planetary systems

Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft from one star system, solitary star, or planetary system to another. Interstellar travel is expected to prove much more difficult than interplanetary spaceflight due to the vast difference in the scale of the involved distances. Whereas the distance between any two planets in the Solar System is less than 55 astronomical units (AU), stars are typically separated by hundreds of thousands of AU, causing these distances to typically be expressed instead in light-years. Because of the vastness of these distances, non-generational interstellar travel based on known physics would need to occur at a high percentage of the speed of light; even so, travel times would be long, at least decades and perhaps millennia or longer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spacecraft propulsion</span> Method used to accelerate spacecraft

Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. In-space propulsion exclusively deals with propulsion systems used in the vacuum of space and should not be confused with space launch or atmospheric entry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time travel</span> Hypothetical travel into the past or future

Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a widely recognized concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. The idea of a time machine was popularized by H. G. Wells's 1895 novel The Time Machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fusion rocket</span> Rocket driven by nuclear fusion power

A fusion rocket is a theoretical design for a rocket driven by fusion propulsion that could provide efficient and sustained acceleration in space without the need to carry a large fuel supply. The design requires fusion power technology beyond current capabilities, and much larger and more complex rockets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcubierre drive</span> Hypothetical FTL transportation by warping space

The Alcubierre drive is a speculative warp drive idea according to which a spacecraft could achieve apparent faster-than-light travel by contracting space in front of it and expanding space behind it, under the assumption that a configurable energy-density field lower than that of vacuum could be created. Proposed by theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre in 1994, the Alcubierre drive is based on a solution of Einstein's field equations. Since those solutions are metric tensors, the Alcubierre drive is also referred to as Alcubierre metric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warp drive</span> Fictional superluminal spacecraft propulsion system

A warp drive or a drive enabling space warp is a fictional superluminal spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek, and a subject of ongoing physics research. The general concept of "warp drive" was introduced by John W. Campbell in his 1957 novel Islands of Space and was popularized by the Star Trek series. Its closest real-life equivalent is the Alcubierre drive, a theoretical solution of the field equations of general relativity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starship</span> Spacecraft designed for interstellar travel

A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1882 in Oahspe: A New Bible.

The Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Project (BPP) was a research project funded by NASA from 1996 to 2002 to study various proposals for revolutionary methods of spacecraft propulsion that would require breakthroughs in physics before they could be realized. The project ended in 2002, when the Advanced Space Transportation Program was reorganized and all speculative research was cancelled. During its six years of operational funding, this program received a total investment of $1.2 million.

Vacuum energy is an underlying background energy that exists in space throughout the entire Universe. The vacuum energy is a special case of zero-point energy that relates to the quantum vacuum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-gravity</span> Idea of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity

Anti-gravity is a hypothetical phenomenon of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to either the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to balancing the force of gravity with some other force, such as electromagnetism and aerodynamic lift. Anti-gravity is a recurring concept in science fiction. Examples are the gravity blocking substance "Cavorite" in H. G. Wells's The First Men in the Moon and the Spindizzy machines in James Blish's Cities in Flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguel Alcubierre</span> Mexican theoretical physicist (born 1964)

Miguel Alcubierre Moya is a Mexican theoretical physicist. Alcubierre is known for the proposed Alcubierre drive, a speculative warp drive by which a spacecraft could achieve faster-than-light travel.

A reactionless drive is a hypothetical device producing motion without the exhaust of a propellant. A propellantless drive is not necessarily reactionless when it constitutes an open system interacting with external fields; but a reactionless drive is a particular case of a propellantless drive that is a closed system, presumably in contradiction with the law of conservation of momentum. Reactionless drives are often considered similar to a perpetual motion machine. The name comes from Newton's third law, often expressed as: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EmDrive</span> Device claimed to be a propellantless spacecraft thruster

The EmDrive is a concept for a thruster for spacecraft, first written about in 2001. It is purported to generate thrust by reflecting microwaves inside the device, in a way that would violate the law of conservation of momentum and other laws of physics. The concept has at times been referred to as a resonant cavity thruster.

Field propulsion is the concept of spacecraft propulsion where no propellant is necessary but instead momentum of the spacecraft is changed by an interaction of the spacecraft with external force fields, such as gravitational and magnetic fields from stars and planets. Proposed drives that use field propulsion are often called a reactionless or propellantless drive.

IXS <i>Enterprise</i> Conceptual interstellar ship

IXS Enterprise is a conceptual interstellar superluminal spacecraft designed by NASA scientist Dr. Harold G. White, revealed at SpaceVision 2013, designed for the goal of achieving warp travel. The conceptual spacecraft would make use of a modified version of the Alcubierre drive. Dr. White is currently running the White–Juday warp-field interferometer experiment in order to develop a proof of concept for Alcubierre-style warp travel, when possible. The Alcubierre drive uses exotic matter to travel faster than light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LISA Pathfinder</span> 2015 European Space Agency spacecraft

LISA Pathfinder, formerly Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology-2 (SMART-2), was an ESA spacecraft that was launched on 3 December 2015 on board Vega flight VV06. The mission tested technologies needed for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), an ESA gravitational wave observatory planned to be launched in 2035. The scientific phase started on 8 March 2016 and lasted almost sixteen months. In April 2016 ESA announced that LISA Pathfinder demonstrated that the LISA mission is feasible.

Negative energy is a concept used in physics to explain the nature of certain fields, including the gravitational field and various quantum field effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory</span> NASA cutting-edge research group, Johnson Space Center, TX, US

The Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory or "Eagleworks Laboratories" at NASA's Johnson Space Center is a small research group investigating a variety of theories regarding new forms of spacecraft propulsion. The principal investigator is Dr. Harold G. White.

The Helical engine is a proposed spacecraft propulsion drive that, like other reactionless drives, would violate the laws of physics.

References

  1. Personnel page Archived 2017-04-26 at the Wayback Machine - website of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Wichita State University
  2. Graduate Study Recent Theses Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine - website of the Physics and Astronomy Department of Rice University
  3. 1 2 3 Icarus Interstellar. "Dr. Harold 'Sonny' White" Archived 2015-06-01 at the Wayback Machine , Project Icarus.
  4. Oswald, Ed. "NASA working on faster-than-light space travel, says warp drives are 'plausible'", ExtremeTech.
  5. 1 2 White, Harold. "Warp Field Mechanics 101", NASA, Houston, TX.
  6. A Discussion of Space-Time Metric Engineering – Digital Library for Physics and Astronomy of Harvard University
  7. Dvorsky, George. "How NASA might build its very first warp drive", io9.
  8. Williams, Matt (27 May 2022). "The Dream of Faster-than-Light (FTL) Travel: Dr. Harold "Sonny" White and Limitless Space". Universe Today. Retrieved 14 March 2023. … in the process of looking at how the vacuum responds to these shapes, he and his team noticed something completely unexpected: 'The custom Casimir cavities consist of two plates, and in between the two plates, we have pillars. When we were looking at how the models we have predicted how the quantum vacuum responds to those pillar-plate geometries – when we looked at a two-dimensional section cut of the vacuum energy distribution, it looked like a two-dimensional section cut of the energy density distribution needed for the Alcubierre Warp Metric.'
  9. Ankers-Range, Adele (31 December 2021). "Scientists Take a Step Towards Building a Real-Life Warp Drive... By Accident". IGN. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  10. White, Harold; Vera, Jerry; Han, Arum; Bruccoleri, Alexander R.; MacArthur, Jonathan (17 May 2021). "Worldline numerics applied to custom Casimir geometry generates unanticipated intersection with Alcubierre warp metric". European Physical Journal C . 81 (7): 677–686. doi: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09484-z . Retrieved 14 March 2023. The qualitative correlation would suggest that a chip-scale experiment might be explored to attempt to measure a tiny signature illustrative of the presence of the conjectured phenomenon
  11. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/evaluating-nasas-futuristic-em-drive/ Evaluating NASA’s Futuristic EM Drive
  12. White, Harold; March, Paul; Lawrence, James; Vera, Jerry; Sylvester, Andre; Brady, David; Bailey, Paul (2017). "Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio-Frequency Cavity in Vacuum". Journal of Propulsion and Power. 33 (4): 830–841. doi:10.2514/1.B36120. hdl: 2060/20170000277 . S2CID   126303009.
  13. "The Impossible Propulsion Drive Is Heading to Space". popularmechanics.com. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  14. Crew, Bec. "The 'Impossible' EM Drive Is About to Be Tested in Space". sciencealert.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  15. "NASA Team Claims 'Impossible' Space Engine Works—Get the Facts". National Geographic. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  16. Seeker (19 November 2016). "How The 'Impossible Drive' Could Break Newton's Third Law" . Retrieved 9 October 2017 via YouTube.
  17. Ratner, Paul (2016-09-07). "EM Drive, the Impossible Rocket Engine, May Be Closer to Reality". bigthink.com.
  18. Poitras, Colin (7 December 2016). "To Mars in 70 days: Expert discusses NASA's study of paradoxical EM propulsion drive". Phys.org. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  19. Delbert, Caroline (31 March 2021). "Scientists Just Killed the EmDrive". popularmechanics.com. Popular Mechanics . Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  20. "Eagleworks Laboratories: Advanced Propulsion Physics Research" (PDF). NASA. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2013.