From: Forrest Bishop (forrestb@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Thu Nov 28 1996 - 13:27:25 MST
[[Michael Lorrey posts:]]
Every day I still wonder that
no one has developed this before,
[[I came up with something very much like the “Lorrey Drive” when I was
about nine years old. I found out several years later, much to my
chagrin, that
a) Lots of other people have had the same idea, and
b) it does not work.]]
it is such a simple concept, but I guess
that most people still interpret Newtonian Mechanics according to
classical
human perceptions. The idea that reaction mass can have its momentum
drawn
out of it and then recycling it is so contrary ...,
that it just seems to violate some natural law or something.
[[Yes, this is the problem.
The two laws in question are:
a) Conservation of Linear Momentum
b) Conservation of Angular Momentum
Outside of transitory, self-canceling quantum effects, there
is zero (0) experimental evidence of a violation of either of
these “Laws”, which is why they are called such.
They are therefore used in the design of everything from Autogyros
to Z-0 detectors, with fantastic success.]]
What I have developed has been
attempted by others, although theirs were half baked designs, because
they
really did not understand the mechanism fully. The Lorrey drive is a
device
which converts angular momentum (torque) to linear acceleration
(thrust)
without any mechanical linkage to a linear reaction mass.
[[The type of mechanism is irrelevant. It is the net result that
matters,
and there is no experimental evidence for the above result .]]
. While this is not so important on
the ground or in the air or water, where there is always more reaction
mass available, in space you must carry your reaction mass with
yourself
in order to be able to maneuver and navigate the vast reaches.
[[Not necessarily- laser/maser sails, accelerators, tethers and other
momentum
transfer techniques are serious contenders.]]
...However, if you were able to speed each
mass up at one point in the orbit, and slow it down again on the
opposite
side of the centrifuge, you would have a point in the centrifuge where
all masses were going slowly on that side, and fast on the opposite
side.
This would produce excess centrifugal force in a direction straight out
from the point of highest velocity....
Over here on the right side, where the masses move fastest, is where
the excess
centrifugal force is generated. This translates into linear thrust..
[[Which is precisely canceled by the forces on the mechanism that
accelerates the masses.
Forrest Bishop
Institute of Atomic-Scale Engineering
http://www.speakeasy.org/~forrestb
]]
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