Antigravity' Propulsion System Proposed
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'Antigravity' Propulsion System
Proposed
By Bill Christensen
posted: 15 February 2006
11:08 a.m. ET
An 'antigravity' propulsion system was proposed at the Space Technology and Applications
International Forum (STAIF) in Albuquerque on Febuary 14 by Dr. Franklin Felber. His new
exact solution to Einstein's gravitational field equation gives hope to space enthusiasts
that it might be possible to accelerate space craft to speeds approaching that of light
without crushing the contents of the craft. If it works, it could be even better than
apergy, as described by science fiction writer Percy Greg in 1880.
Dr. Felber's paper states that a mass moving faster than 57.7 percent of the speed of
light will gravitationally repel other masses lying within a narrow 'antigravity beam' in
front of it. This "beam" intensifies as the speed of the mass approaches that of
light.
The paper shows how to use the repulsion of a body speeding through space to accelerate
large spacecraft quickly while reducing internal tidal forces that could tear the cargo
apart. The paper argues that the payload would "fall weightlessly" in an
antigravity beam as it is accelerated to a substantial fraction of light speed.
"Based on this research, I expect a mission to accelerate a massive payload to a
'good fraction of light speed' will be launched before the end of this century," said
Dr. Felber. "These antigravity solutions of Einstein's theory can change our view of
our ability to travel to the far reaches of our universe."
On the downside, it does not appear that Dr. Felber has published any previous papers in
the field of general relativity. Also, the space engineering conference in Albuquerque
probably has lower standards for peer review than those at a gravity conference.
Gravity is a favorite source of propulsion for science fiction writers. In his 1880 novel
Across the Zodiac, writer Percy Greg refers to a marvelous material called apergy:
I had satisfied myself that only one thing needful was as yet wholly beyond the reach and
even the proximate hopes of science...
I needed a repulsion which would act like gravitation through an indefinite distance and
in a void - act upon a remote fulcrum, such as might be the Earth in a voyage to the Moon,
or the Sun in a more distant journey. As soon, then, as the character of the apergic force
was made known to me, its application to this purpose seized on my mind. Experiment had
proved it possible, by the method described at the commencement of this record, to
generate and collect it in amounts practically unlimited.
Prior methods for spacecraft propulsion include the bird-like Gansas of Bishop Godwin's
1638 book The Man in the Moone. Next came gunpowder, which was used in the colossal
Columbiad launching cannon used in Jules Verne's 1867 novel From the Earth to the Moon.
Neither method accelerated travellers to an appreciable fraction of light-speed.
As far as I know, the only real, working example of using large masses for
"gravitational propulsion" is the well-known "slingshot" or
"gravity assist" method used successfully in the Voyager, Galileo and Cassini
programs. Historians of science differ on the source of the idea, but the basic idea was
described by science fiction writer Ray Cummings in his 1931 novel Brigands of the Moon
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