IXS ''Enterprise'' is a conceptual interstellar superluminal

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

scientist Dr.

Harold G. White Harold G. "Sonny" White (born October 8, 1965) is a mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, and applied physicist who is known for proposing new Alcubierre drive concepts and promoting advanced propulsion projects. Educational White obtained a ...

, revealed at SpaceVision 2013, designed for the goal of achieving warp travel. The conceptual spacecraft would make use of a modified version of the

Alcubierre drive The Alcubierre drive () is a speculative warp drive idea according to which a spacecraft could achieve apparent faster-than-light travel by contracting space in front of it and expanding space behind it, under the assumption that a configurable ...

. Dr. White is currently running the White–Juday warp-field interferometer experiment in order to develop a

proof of concept Proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has prac ...

for Alcubierre-style warp travel, when possible. The Alcubierre drive uses

exotic matter There are several proposed types of exotic matter: * Hypothetical particles and states of matter that have "exotic" physical properties that would violate known laws of physics, such as a particle having a negative mass. * Hypothetical partic ...

(not to be confused with

antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...

) to travel faster than light. While the concept had been out since 2013 the design of IXS ''Enterprise'' was popularized in June 2014 after a series of media outlets reported on the conceptual artwork done by Dutch artist Mark Rademaker in collaboration with NASA. According to Mark Rademaker, over 1,600 hours have been spent on the conceptual artwork that he created. In 2012, NASA reported that it was experimenting with the concept of warp drive and the loop hole within Einstein's Theory of Relativity. By 2014, it was announced that designer Mark Rademaker had created a CGI representation of a new vessel that would achieve warp velocity. The vessel he designed was the ''IXS Enterprise''. The energy required to power the warp drive, according to White, is approximately the negative (negative energy is required for the Alcubierre drive concept to function)

mass–energy equivalence In physics, mass–energy equivalence is the relationship between mass and energy in a system's rest frame, where the two quantities differ only by a multiplicative constant and the units of measurement. The principle is described by the physicis ...

of ''

Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin '' Voyager 2'', ''V ...

'', which has a mass of approximately 700 kilograms. Using E=mc², −700 kilograms of mass is equivalent to ~−63 exajoules of energy (this number is not definitive and can be further reduced). The ship has two thick outer rings (to reduce required energy) that generate the warp field—a contraction of space ahead, and expansion of space behind it. The space inside the rings is optimized to fit more space for cargo, crew and equipment.

References

External links

IXS ''Enterprise'' (IXS-110), images by Mark Rademaker (on Flickr)

Warp Field Physics (PDF)
* * NASA Interstellar travel Theoretical physics Spacecraft propulsion Science in art Faster-than-light travel {{spacecraft-stub

See also

References

External links