New Rocket with 'Warp-like' Drive May Send People to Mars in 70 Days

Scientists may be a step closer to interplanetary travel. Scientists have found that the electromagnetic propulsion drive, known as the EM drive, actually stands up to experimental scrutiny.

The EM Drive has been in development for more than a decade, and uses solar power to create microwave energy. This energy then propels a rocket. Because of this, there's no need for having to use rocket fuel.

What's truly interesting is that the EM drive could, theoretically, produce huge amounts of propulsion that could blast us to Mars in just 70 days without the need for rocket fuel. Yet this type of propulsion defies one of the fundamental concepts of physics, the conservation of momentum. This concept states that for something to be propelled forward, some kind of propellant needs to be pushed out in the opposite direction.

In this latest experiment, researchers actually confirmed that this week, the EM Drive is producing thrust.

"Our test campaign cannot confirm or refute the claims of the EM Drive but intends to independently assess possible side-effects in the measurement methods used so far," said Martin Tajmar of the Dresden University of Technology in Germany, in an interview with The Telegraph. "Nevertheless, we observe thrust close to the actual predictions after eliminating many possible error sources that should warrant further investigation into the phenomena."

With that said, it's too soon to start planning missions to other planets with the EM drive. However, the thruster could be revolutionary for the space industry if scientists can figure out how to actually create it.

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