NASA Working on Something Straight Out of ‘Star Trek’

From The Blaze.com (May 1):

In March, NASA said the concept of “warp drive” was “impossible,” but news is swirling that it hasn’t stopped engineers from conducting tests that could someday allow for faster-than-the-speed-of-light travel.

Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center tested an electromagnetic propulsion drive in a vacuum, according to NASASpaceFlight.com, an industry news website with a forum that it says is frequented by NASA and space industry professionals.

Nancy Smith Kilkenny with SGT Inc., an engineering firm with contracts for federal agencies, wrote on NASA’s website in March though that “warp drive” is currently “at the level of speculation.”

“The bulk of scientific knowledge concludes that it’s impossible, especially when considering Einstein’s Theory of Relativity,” she said. “There are certainly some credible concepts in scientific literature, however it’s too soon to know if they are viable.”

She said that NASA was working on ion propulsion for deep space missions, which she said was the “fastest and most efficient to date.”

“There are many ‘absurd’ theories that have become reality over the years of scientific research. But for the near future, warp drive remains a dream,” Kilkenny said. [read more]

Cool. If mankind is ever to travel the universe it will need near light speed velocity for its spaceships. Once that technology is tested and working NASA can next work on transporter devices like in Star Trek. One can only dream.