As the famous poet Robert Browning once said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” If humanity ever hopes to achieve interstellar travel, this mantra should be adopted by all researchers in the fields, even if the laws of reality itself dictate that practical spacefaring is impossible; even if these laws state insurmountable absolutes.
As the fundamental law of physics states, no object can exceed 299,792,458 meters per second, AKA the speed of light. Nonetheless, hypothetical long-distance space travel demands that we push to reach it. This is the goal of Jim Woodward, a California State University physics professor working on what he has excitingly named “The MEGA Drive,” a revolutionary advancement in propulsion systems.
The MEGA (Mach Effect Gravitational Assist) drive, unlike most modern propulsion systems, requires no fuel other than electricity. It uses no literal propellant, rather utilizing the energy contained within small, vibrating piezoelectric crystals.
Piezoelectric materials are unique in that when an electrical current is applied, the material will change shape. In the case of piezoelectric crystals, they contract and expand repeatedly, or in other words, they vibrate.
Ernst Mach, a 19th century physicist, once theorized that inertia is the result of the gravitational influence of distant stellular objects on all other objects in the universe. Though controversially regarded by the scientific community, Einstein was a proponent of the theory, referring to it as “Mach’s Principle.” Einstein, using his infamous theory E=mC2, further built on Mach’s Principle, stating that as an object changes in energy, its mass will change as well. Since mass is related to inertia (larger objects are more difficult to push, for example), a change in mass will change the objects inertia.
This is the very theory that Woodward’s Mega drive relies on. As these piezoelectric crystals are electrified, their energy changes, their mass changes, and their inertia changes. These vibrations, occurring tens of thousands of times per second, oscillate in a predictable manner; when these oscillations sync up across the device, the device itself moves forward.
It sounds like science fiction, almost alien-like, but the possibility of alien technology is the very imaginative prospect that inspired Woodward to think outside of the box.
In a piece written by Daniel Oberhaus for Wired, Woodward recalled a time when he was satellite-spotting in Spain. As he watched the dots of light move across the night sky in a predictable, orbital pattern, he noticed one light in the sky veer off course. Being a knowledgeable physicist, he knew that such a change in direction would take a considerable amount of force, the kind not possible by satellites. What he believed that he saw in that life-changing moment was no human-made device, but a spacecraft not of this world.
“Critters at least as clever as us had figured out how to get around spacetime far better than we are capable of doing,” said Woodward. “If somebody figured out how the hell to do something like that, they probably aren’t an awful lot smarter than I am, so I thought maybe I should devote a little time to trying to do that.”
Since then, Woodward has built a workable prototype of his MEGA drive, though he is far from reaching his intended goal of space-travel as the device is only capable of producing a force equivalent of a few hundred micronewtons.
That being said, big things have small beginnings, a principle that most investors understand. After achieving a position in NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, he was awarded a grant of 125,000 dollars in 2017 and 500,000 dollars in 2018.
With more money pouring in, Woodward hopes to have functional version of the prototype ready to be tested in outer space within a year; and with any luck, sometime in the future E.T will be watching the night sky just like Woodward was, wondering how in the hell a bunch of monkeys managed to pull off a trick like that.