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White, Harold

Publications and source records attributed to White, Harold.

15 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

Pilot Wave Model for Impulsive Thrust from RF Test Device Measured in Vacuum

A physics model is developed in detail and its place in the taxonomy of ideas about the nature of the quantum vacuum is discussed. The experimental results from the recently completed vacuum test campaign evaluating the impulsive thrust performance of a tapered RF test article excited in the TM212 mode at 1,937 megahertz (MHz) are summarized. The empirical data from this campaign is compared to the predictions from the physics model tools. A discussion is provided to further elaborate on the possible implications of the proposed model if it is physically valid. Based on the correlation of analysis prediction with experimental data collected, it is proposed that the observed anomalous thrust forces are real, not due to experimental error, and are due to a new type of interaction with quantum vacuum fluctuations.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2017

In-Space Chemical Propulsion Systems Roadmap

In-space propulsion begins where the launch vehicle upper stage leaves off, performing the functions of primary propulsion, reaction control, station keeping, precision pointing, and orbital maneuvering. The main engines used in space provide the primary propulsive force for orbit transfer, planetary trajectories and extra planetary landing and ascent. The reaction control and orbital maneuvering systems provide the propulsive force for orbit maintenance, position control, station keeping, and spacecraft attitude control. Advanced in-space propulsion technologies will enable much more effective exploration of our Solar System and will permit mission designers to plan missions to "fly anytime, anywhere, and complete a host of science objectives at the destinations" with greater reliability and safety. With wide range of possible missions and candidate propulsion technologies, the question of which technologies are "best" for future missions is a difficult one. A portfolio of propulsion technologies should be developed to provide optimum solutions for a diverse set of missions and destinations. A large fraction of the rocket engines in use today are chemical rockets; that is, they obtain the energy needed to generate thrust by chemical reactions to create a hot gas that is expanded to produce thrust. A significant limitation of chemical propulsion is that it has a relatively low specific impulse (Is, or thrust per mass flow rate of propellant). A significant improvement (>30%) in Is can be obtained by using cryogenic propellants, such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, for example. Historically, these propellants have not been applied beyond upper stages.

Oxidizers↗
NASA NTRS2016

Measurement of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio Frequency Cavity in Vacuum

A vacuum test campaign evaluating the impulsive thrust performance of a tapered RF test article excited in the TM212 mode at 1,937 megahertz (MHz) has been completed. The test campaign consisted of a forward thrust phase and reverse thrust phase at less than 8 x 10(exp -6) Torr vacuum with power scans at 40 watts, 60 watts, and 80 watts. The test campaign included a null thrust test effort to identify any mundane sources of impulsive thrust, however none were identified. Thrust data from forward, reverse, and null suggests that the system is consistently performing with a thrust to power ratio of 1.2 +/- 0.1 mN/kW.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2015

Dynamics of the Vacuum and Casimir Analogs to the Hydrogen Atom

This paper will discuss the current viewpoint of the vacuum state and explore the idea of a "natural" vacuum as opposed to immutable, non-degradable vacuum. This concept will be explored for all primary quantum numbers to show consistency with observation at the level of Bohr theory. A comparison with the Casimir force per unit area will be made, and an explicit function for the spatial variation of the vacuum density around the atomic nucleus will be derived. This explicit function will be numerically modeled using the industry multi-physics tool, COMSOL(trademark), and the eigenfrequencies for the n = 1 to n = 7 states will be found and compared to expectation.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2014

Q-Thruster Breadboard Campaign Project

Dr. Harold "Sonny" White has developed the physics theory basis for utilizing the quantum vacuum to produce thrust. The engineering implementation of the theory is known as Q-thrusters. During FY13, three test campaigns were conducted that conclusively demonstrated tangible evidence of Q-thruster physics with measurable thrust bringing the TRL up from TRL 2 to early TRL 3. This project will continue with the development of the technology to a breadboard level by leveraging the most recent NASA/industry test hardware. This project will replace the manual tuning process used in the 2013 test campaign with an automated Radio Frequency (RF) Phase Lock Loop system (precursor to flight-like implementation), and will redesign the signal ports to minimize RF leakage (improves efficiency). This project will build on the 2013 test campaign using the above improvements on the test implementation to get ready for subsequent Independent Verification and Validation testing at Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in FY 2015. Q-thruster technology has a much higher thrust to power than current forms of electric propulsion (~7x Hall thrusters), and can significantly reduce the total power required for either Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) or Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Also, due to the high thrust and high specific impulse, Q-thruster technology will greatly relax the specific mass requirements for in-space nuclear reactor systems. Q-thrusters can reduce transit times for a power-constrained architecture.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Brief: Q-Thruster Physics

Q-thrusters are a low-TRL form of electric propulsion that operates on the principle of pushing off of the quantum vacuum. A terrestrial analog to this is to consider how a submarine uses its propeller to push a column of water in one direction, while the sub recoils in the other to conserve momentum -the submarine does not carry a "tank" of sea water to be used as propellant. In our case, we use the tools of Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to show how the thruster pushes off of the quantum vacuum which can be thought of as a sea of virtual particles -principally electrons and positrons that pop into and out of existence, and where fields are stronger, there are more virtual particles. The idea of pushing off the quantum vacuum has been in the technical literature for a few decades, but to date, the obstacle has been the magnitude of the predicted thrust which has been derived analytically to be very small, and therefore not likely to be useful for human spaceflight. Our recent theoretical model development and test data suggests that we can greatly increase the magnitude of the negative pressure of the quantum vacuum and generate a specific force such that technology based on this approach can be competitive for in-space propulsion approx. 0.1N/kW), and possibly for terrestrial applications (approx. 10N/kW). As an additional validation of the approach, the theory allows calculation of physics constants from first principles: Gravitational constant, Planck constant, Bohr radius, dark energy fraction, electron mass.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2012

Roadmap for In-Space Propulsion Technology

NASA has created a roadmap for the development of advanced in-space propulsion technologies for the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT). This roadmap was drafted by a team of subject matter experts from within the Agency and then independently evaluated, integrated and prioritized by a National Research Council (NRC) panel. The roadmap describes a portfolio of in-space propulsion technologies that could meet future space science and exploration needs, and shows their traceability to potential future missions. Mission applications range from small satellites and robotic deep space exploration to space stations and human missions to Mars. Development of technologies within the area of in-space propulsion will result in technical solutions with improvements in thrust, specific impulse (Isp), power, specific mass (or specific power), volume, system mass, system complexity, operational complexity, commonality with other spacecraft systems, manufacturability, durability, and of course, cost. These types of improvements will yield decreased transit times, increased payload mass, safer spacecraft, and decreased costs. In some instances, development of technologies within this area will result in mission-enabling breakthroughs that will revolutionize space exploration. There is no single propulsion technology that will benefit all missions or mission types. The requirements for in-space propulsion vary widely according to their intended application. This paper provides an updated summary of the In-Space Propulsion Systems technology area roadmap incorporating the recommendations of the NRC.

Meyer, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2012

Technology Area Roadmap for In-Space Propulsion Technologies

The exponential increase of launch system size.and cost.with delta-V makes missions that require large total impulse cost prohibitive. Led by NASA fs Marshall Space Flight Center, a team from government, industry, and academia has developed a flight demonstration mission concept of an integrated electrodynamic (ED) tethered satellite system called PROPEL: \Propulsion using Electrodynamics.. The PROPEL Mission is focused on demonstrating a versatile configuration of an ED tether to overcome the limitations of the rocket equation, enable new classes of missions currently unaffordable or infeasible, and significantly advance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to an operational level. We are also focused on establishing a far deeper understanding of critical processes and technologies to be able to scale and improve tether systems in the future. Here, we provide an overview of the proposed PROPEL mission. One of the critical processes for efficient ED tether operation is the ability to inject current to and collect current from the ionosphere. Because the PROPEL mission is planned to have both boost and deboost capability using a single tether, the tether current must be capable of flowing in both directions and at levels well over 1 A. Given the greater mobility of electrons over that of ions, this generally requires that both ends of the ED tether system can both collect and emit electrons. For example, hollow cathode plasma contactors (HCPCs) generally are viewed as state-of-the-art and high TRL devices; however, for ED tether applications important questions remain of how efficiently they can operate as both electron collectors and emitters. Other technologies will be highlighted that are being investigated as possible alternatives to the HCPC such as Solex that generates a plasma cloud from a solid material (Teflon) and electron emission (only) technologies such as cold-cathode electron field emission or photo-electron beam generation (PEBG) techniques

Johnson, Les↗
NASA NTRS2011

Eagleworks Laboratories: Advanced Propulsion Physics Research

NASA/JSC is implementing an advanced propulsion physics laboratory, informally known as "Eagleworks", to pursue propulsion technologies necessary to enable human exploration of the solar system over the next 50 years, and enabling interstellar spaceflight by the end of the century. This work directly supports the "Breakthrough Propulsion" objectives detailed in the NASA OCT TA02 In-space Propulsion Roadmap, and aligns with the #10 Top Technical Challenge identified in the report. Since the work being pursued by this laboratory is applied scientific research in the areas of the quantum vacuum, gravitation, nature of space-time, and other fundamental physical phenomenon, high fidelity testing facilities are needed. The lab will first implement a low-thrust torsion pendulum (<1 uN), and commission the facility with an existing Quantum Vacuum Plasma Thruster. To date, the QVPT line of research has produced data suggesting very high specific impulse coupled with high specific force. If the physics and engineering models can be explored and understood in the lab to allow scaling to power levels pertinent for human spaceflight, 400kW SEP human missions to Mars may become a possibility, and at power levels of 2MW, 1-year transit to Neptune may also be possible. Additionally, the lab is implementing a warp field interferometer that will be able to measure spacetime disturbances down to 150nm. Recent work published by White [1] [2] [3] suggests that it may be possible to engineer spacetime creating conditions similar to what drives the expansion of the cosmos. Although the expected magnitude of the effect would be tiny, it may be a "Chicago pile" moment for this area of physics.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2011

Warp Field Mechanics 101

This paper will begin with a short review of the Alcubierre warp drive metric and describes how the phenomenon might work based on the original paper. The canonical form of the metric was developed and published in [6] which provided key insight into the field potential and boost for the field which remedied a critical paradox in the original Alcubierre concept of operations. A modified concept of operations based on the canonical form of the metric that remedies the paradox is presented and discussed. The idea of a warp drive in higher dimensional space-time (manifold) will then be briefly considered by comparing the null-like geodesics of the Alcubierre metric to the Chung-Freese metric to illustrate the mathematical role of hyperspace coordinates. The net effect of using a warp drive technology coupled with conventional propulsion systems on an exploration mission will be discussed using the nomenclature of early mission planning. Finally, an overview of the warp field interferometer test bed being implemented in the Advanced Propulsion Physics Laboratory: Eagleworks (APPL:E) at the Johnson Space Center will be detailed. While warp field mechanics has not had a Chicago Pile moment, the tools necessary to detect a modest instance of the phenomenon are near at hand.

White, Harold↗
NASA NTRS2010

Modern Gemini-Approach to Technology Development for Human Space Exploration

In NASA's plan to put men on the moon, there were three sequential programs: Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. The Gemini program was used to develop and integrate the technologies that would be necessary for the Apollo program to successfully put men on the moon. We would like to present an analogous modern approach that leverages legacy ISS hardware designs, and integrates developing new technologies into a flexible architecture This new architecture is scalable, sustainable, and can be used to establish human exploration infrastructure beyond low earth orbit and into deep space.

White, Harold↗