Fuel-Free Engine Works, According To Leaked Papers

If the world's economic landscape is to be believed, we are running low on oil, which means that it's high time to look for fuel alternatives.

Fortunately, science is way ahead and according to The Daily Mail, a fuel-free engine, which was deemed "impossible" to create, is fast becoming reality, at least according to leaked NASA documents. The EM Drive, as it was named, is said to one day have the potential to get a human crew to Mars in 10 weeks, as it will not need a conventional rocket fuel or nuclear reactor to do its task.

The report described a series of successful tests that were carried out at MASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas, and it seems that the propulsion system has caused a stir in the science world. According to the laws of physics, such system is not supposed to work: traditional rocket engines normally use chemical fuel which was supposed to be combusted and ejected from the thrusters.

For spaces with airless vacuum, for instance, the Third Law of Motion should generate a thrust by ejecting mass into a certain vacuum, no air needed. But the EM Drive has no fuel to inject, making its success quite questionable. The design was said to generate thrist by harnessing particles of light and microwaves inside a cone-like closed chamber.

The paper, which was leaked on a NASA Spaceflight forum, was taken down immediately. However, early tests showed the system in the vacuum, r4ecreating the conditions of the engine as if it were used in space.

Extreme Tech noted that if successful, this technology could be used in several things, including providing electricity for solar panels to keep the thruster working in a low-thrust propulsion with no associated costs - therefore there is no need to drastically reduce the cost of keeping the satellites running in orbit - and interstellar travel could be that much faster.