Warp Drive Possible?

Is warp drive possible? Dr. Harold White, Advanced Propulsion Lead for the NASA Engineering Directorate, thinks that it might be — and he’s not alone. The first plausible concept for a real warp drive was suggested in 1994 by physicist Miguel Alcubierre, for which the concept is also known as the Alcubierre drive, but such a drive would required absolutely astronomical amounts of energy (and by “astronomical” I mean an a matter/anti-matter reaction with a mass-energy requirement equal to Jupiter). Dr. Harold White’s concept only requires a few hundred kilos of mass-energy.

Discovery News has a great article, as well as a really neat slide show that you should certainly check out. You can also read Space.com’s article, or the one at Gizmodo.

Too lazy to read? No problem. Here’s a nice news video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwZt1Yh4-1U

White’s team is going to attempt a very, very small scale experiment  at the Johnson Space Center to attempt to create some microscopic warp bubbles. If successfully, this could pave the way for future breakthroughs in advanced space propulsion. Here’s to their success — or as the Klingons would say, Qapla’!