Roger Shawyer's controversial EmDrive engine does indeed work, and a recently published study by a team of NASA engineers prove this resonant cavity thruster that violates fundamental laws of physics might one day be mankind's ticket to interstellar travel.

Proof was provided in a study published in the just released December issue of the "AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power" with the title "Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio Frequency Cavity in Vacuum." The journal is published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

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The study was conducted by the Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center, also known as "Eagleworks," and passed peer review before publication in the AIAA journal.

It suggests EmDrive or Em Drive (electromagnetic drive) technology apparently works. Its authors are Harold White, Paul March, Lawrence, Vera, Sylvester, Brady and Bailey.

The published NASA EmDrive paper confirms a NASA test EmDrive engine generated 1.2 millinewtons per kilowatt of thrust, which is 300 times better than other zero propellant propulsion systems

NASA's EmDrive tests consistently measured performance at 1.2 ± 0.1 mN/kW, which was very close to the average impulsive performance measured in air. A number of error sources were considered and discussed.

NASA concluded the EmDrive is 300 times more powerful than light sails, laser propulsion and photon rockets in thrust to power level basis

The EmDrive's 1.2 mN/kW performance parameter is over two orders of magnitude higher than other forms of zero propellant propulsion, such as light sails, laser propulsion, and photon rockets having thrust-to-power levels in the 3.33-6.67 µN/kW (or 0.0033-0.0067 mN/kW) range.

Also called a radio frequency (RF) resonant cavity thruster, an EmDrive is an electromagnetic thruster that uses no reaction mass and emits no directional radiation. Skeptics have long said the design principles of this machine aren't supported by prevailing scientific theories and violate the law of conservation of momentum.

Aerospace engineer Roger Shawyer designed the EM Drive in 2001 and has promoted the idea through his company, Satellite Propulsion Research. While considered implausible, the EmDrive stands to revolutionize many propulsion applications, especially those used in spaceflight.

The EmDrive has been dismissed many times as "impossible" because it appears to violate Newton's Third Law of Motion, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The NASA EmDrive in the paper consists of a closed copper cone, the inside of which is being bombarded with microwaves. To test the EmDrive, the researchers powered it with 40, 60, and 80 watts and found that it generated up to 58, 128, and 119 micronewtons of thrust, respectively.

TagsEmDrive, Roger Shawyer, NASA, Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio Frequency Cavity in Vacuum, Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory, Eagleworks