Hopefully, she'll get some funding.
Natalia
http://www.fastcompany.com/1837966/mustafas-space-drive-an-egyptian-students-quantum-physics-invention
Mustafa's Space Drive: An Egyptian Student's Quantum Physics Invention
BY Kit Eaton <http://www.fastcompany.com/user/148610> | 05-21-2012 |
7:58 AM
Aisha's invention is so promising that her university's staff aided with
a patent application. She intends to study the design further in the
hope of testing it out for real in space, but as the OnIslam.net
<http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/science/457096-egyptian-student-invents-a-new-propulsion-method.html>
site points out she notes that there's no funding for a department of
space science and this prevents important research being carried out in
strife-ridden Egypt.
Remember the name, because you might see it again: Aisha Mustafa, a
19-year-old Egyptian physics student, patented
<http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/science/457096-egyptian-student-invents-a-new-propulsion-method.html> a
new type of propulsion system for spacecraft that uses cutting edge
quantum physics instead of thrusters.
First, a little background: One of the strange quantum facts at work in
Mustafa's engine idea is that there's no such thing as a vacuum, devoid
of particles, waves, and energy. Instead the universe's supposedly empty
spaces are filled with a roiling sea of particles and anti-particles
that pop into existence, then annihilate each other in such a short
space of time that you can't readily detect them.
Mustafa invented a way of tapping this quantum effect via what's known
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_effect#Analogies_and_the_dynamic_Casimir_effect>
as the dynamic Casimir effect
<http://www.quantumfields.com/IEEEJMEMSACO.pdf>. This uses a "moving
mirror" cavity, where two very reflective very flat plates are held
close together, and then moved slightly to interact with the quantum
particle sea. It's horribly technical, but the end result is that
Mustafa's use of shaped silicon plates similar to those used in solar
power cells results in a net force being delivered. A force, of course,
means a push or a pull and in space this equates to a drive or engine.
In terms of space propulsion, this is amazing. Most forms of spacecraft
rely on the rocket principle to work: Some fuel is made energetic and
then thrust out of an engine, pushing the rocket forward. It's tricky
stuff to get right, particularly on Earth, which is why we shouldn't be
surprised SpaceX's recent launch stopped
<http://www.space.com/15785-spacex-space-capsule-launch-2nd.html> at the
critical moment due to a problem with one of its chemical rocket
engines. For in-space maneuvering, many different types of rocket are
used, but even exotic ones like ion drives (shown in a NASA image above)
need fuel. The only space drive that doesn't involve hauling fuel and
complex systems into orbit is a solar sail. And Mustafa's invention can,
rudimentarily, be compared to a solar sail...because it doesn't need
"fuel" as such, and exerts just the tiniest push compared to the
thundery flames of SpaceX's rockets. It's potential is enormous--because
of its mechanical simplicity and reliability it could make satellite
propulsion lighter, cheaper, and thus indirectly lower the cost of space
missions of all sorts.
And if you want proof that the tiniest of pushes can propel a
spacecraft, check this out: Two Pioneer space probes, launched in the
1970s, are the farthest manmade objects from Earth...but they're not as
far away as they should be. Over the course of a year they deviate by
hundreds of kilometers from where all our science says they must be in
orbit, and it's been found
<http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-07/mystery-pioneer-anomaly-solved-last>
that it's down to the tiniest of pushes coming from radiators on-board
that radiate /heat/ waves out slghtly more in one direction than another.
Aisha's invention is so promising that her university's staff aided with
a patent application. She intends to study the design further in the
hope of testing it out for real in space, but as the OnIslam.net
<http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/science/457096-egyptian-student-invents-a-new-propulsion-method.html>
site points out she notes that there's no funding for a department of
space science and this prevents important research being carried out in
strife-ridden Egypt.
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