Hypothetical Methods
A variety of hypothetical propulsion techniques have been considered that would require entirely new principles of physics to be realized or that may not exist. To date, such methods are highly speculative and include:
- Diametric drive
- Pitch drive
- Bias drive
- Disjunction drive
- Alcubierre drive (a form of Warp drive)
- Differential sail
- Wormholes – theoretically possible, but unachieveable in practice with current technology
- Reactionless drives – breaks the law of conservation of momentum; theoretically impossible
- EmDrive – tries to circumvent the law of conservation of momentum; may be theoretically impossible
- Photon rocket
- A "hyperspace" drive based upon Heim theory
A NASA assessment is found at Marc G Millis Assessing potential propulsion breakthroughs (2005) and an overview of NASA research in this area is at Breakthrough Propulsion Physics.
Read more about this topic: Spacecraft Propulsion
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“It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)