this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
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Although not peer reviewed or replicated, a NASA veteran claims their Propellantless Propulsion Drive, that physics says shouldn’t work, just produced enough thrust to overcome Earth’s gravity (thedebrief.org)
submitted 6 months ago by Lugh@futurology.today to c/futurology@futurology.today
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[–] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 31 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Note that what the mythbusters looked at was a form of ion propulsion. The high voltage on the sharp boundary of the aluminum foil repels air molecules. If you put one of those in a vacuum (or space) it wouldn’t have any thrust.

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 months ago

If you put one of those in a vacuum (or space) it wouldn’t have any thrust.

IIRC, the MythBusters did exactly that later in the episode. Unsurprisdngly, the devices produced no thrust in a vacuum chamber.