Space Drive Video Loop with Notes(www.youtube.com)
2 pointsby dave3337 months ago1 comment
  • dave3337 months ago
    Notes explain what is happening in this "Space Drive" video showing concrete blocks being lifted by 300 Watts of power in an ordinary microwave oven.
    • bigyabai7 months ago
      I don't believe the author is being very serious here. Their comparison with Starship forgot to normalize for propellant mass, which is one of the more dishonest comparison figures I've seen in my lifetime. Nobody's microwave has a higher specific impulse than the Raptor engine, nevermind nine of them.
      • dave3337 months ago
        The space drive has no reaction mass, but there is a small quantity of plasma that is the working medium.
        • bigyabai7 months ago
          Well sure. But the Starship does, so you either have to scale up the space drive or scale down the Raptor engine to get a fair comparison. "power to weight payload lift capability" is a completely facetious comparison if your impulse is too weak to leave the atmosphere.

          A middle-schooler could tell you how this goes. The microwave probably weighs ~80lbs to lift 100lbs of rocks. A single Raptor engine has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 200 - the microwave has a ratio of 1.2.

          • dave3337 months ago
            I think the microwave is cost-optimized, not weight optimized.
            • bigyabai7 months ago
              Then it is perhaps the singular least-novel application of the technology, besides perhaps illustrating it in crayon on a piece of A4 paper.

              If you're responsible for this circus, you might as well admit it now. God forbid you've invested money into this project, this one's bleak pal.

              • dave3337 months ago
                Calling it technology is premature - still in the experimental phase.