THE FIRST PRACTICAL INTERSTELLAR PROPULSION ENGINE

LE PREMIER SYSTEME DE PROPULSION INTERSTELLAIRE PRATIQUE

English Abstract

This novel engine is capable of steadily pushing a spacecraft through the
vacuum of space
without the need for any fuel burned or any high-velocity gases expelled to
propel the vehicle
forward. In each cycle, a moving ball comes to a stop and reverses its
direction of movement; this
cycle then repeats itself through impact collision, meaning the ball keeps
bouncing off the engine's
frame. In physics, this is called an elastic collision, whereby the ball
transfers its momentum to the
engine's frame and re-gains it by bouncing back. Akin to a "Newton's cradle",
a set of stationary
solid spheres/balls arranged symmetrically and held in place by wire ropes in
the shape of a semi-
circle (180 degrees) or a quarter-circle (90 degrees) act as the medium,
through which the
instantaneous energy of impact (impulse) of one dynamic ball is transferred to
the other. For this
closed cycle to continue to work indefinitely, two electromagnets are used to
add enough kinetic
energy to the dynamic balls in order to account for the energy losses in each
cycle. By creating a
perfectly elastic 'collision' between the dynamic ball and the engine's frame,
both the momentum
and kinetic energy of the ball are conserved. As a result, a net impulse
(force applied over a period
of time) is repeatedly added to the engine's frame and subsequently to the
spacecraft, causing it to
gradually gain momentum and accelerate.

Claims

Claims:
1- This engine with its basic mechanical components and its unique design and
configuration as illustrated in different views in figures A, B, C, and D is
the semi-circle
style capable of generating linear thrust and force. A quadrant style of the
same concept
(not shown in the drawings) would generate equal linear thrust and force in
two
perpendicular directions.
2- That such a novel design has never been patented or invented before
anywhere in the
world and is solely the result of my own observations and unrelenting
experiments.
3- That other than space/interstellar propulsion applications, this engine
could primarily be
used for power generation purposes on a larger scale in a green and
environmentally
friendly way.

Description

CA 02731783 2011-02-22
1
Application for patent in Canada
Feb. 22, 2011
Invention: The first practical interstellar propulsion engine
Inventor: Hossein Nabipour
Background:
Over the last decades, many attempts have been made to come up with a space
propulsion
system or engine, fully capable of traversing the vacuum of outer space
without burning and
expelling any gases. Inventions or ideas in this field are known as `reaction-
less drive' or `reaction-
less thrust' systems. According to the known laws of nature, no one object can
start to move from
rest and accelerate in one direction without pushing another object in the
opposite direction. As
Newton discovered, for every action force in one direction, there is an equal
reaction force in the
opposite direction. Therefore for a spacecraft (a mass) to accelerate forward
there has to be a second
external mass pushed backward, and that is how present space rockets and
shuttles propel
themselves by ejecting high-speed gases. Similarly, ships and submarines push
against the water,
cars push against the ground, airplanes push air backwards... all move forward
by pushing an
external mass backward. The law of conservation of momentum applies to such
interactions of
masses, whether on earth or out there in the vacuum of space, far away from
any gravitational
sources.
Physics of the collision phenomenon:
This engine is a practical application and utilization of a very basic yet
fundamental
phenomenon, in which two solid spheres/balls collide with each other in an
elastic manner, i.e. the
combined kinetic energies of the two objects and their combined momentum is
the same before and
after the collision. In an inelastic collision, however, only the momentum
part stays the same, but
the kinetic energy will not be the same, since some of it is dissipated or
lost during the impact. A
`Newton's cradle' shows exactly the elastic collision between the balls and
that how energy of
impact or impulse travels linearly through the balls and out from the other
end. This engine draws
upon such an amazing phenomenon and puts it into a useful and practical
application- generating
instantaneous linear force or thrust.

CA 02731783 2011-02-22
2
Description and specifications:
Figure A shows a 3-D view of the engine's concept. A rigid U-shape or L-shape
frame, a
few solid balls, two spiral springs, some wire ropes, and two electromagnets
comprise the main and
basic mechanical components of the engine. In this engine, the energy of
impact passes through a
set of balls, almost linearly, but in a circular pattern. As the number of
stationary balls/spheres
increases, the angle of each segment of the quadrant or a semi-circle
decreases. Having 45 or more
balls installed on the perimeter of a quadrant, the radial angle from centre
to centre of each ball
reduces to only 2 degrees or smaller. By doing so, a curve is divided up into
smaller linear
segments, and starts to show linear characteristics, thereby minimizing the
outward radial reaction
forces to almost zero. Once this is achieved, a ball moving in one direction
can be brought to rest by
colliding it against one side of the stationary balls, passing its energy
(impulse) through the
stationary balls, and finally transferring it to the ball on the other side,
causing almost no unwanted
radial reaction on the balls installed on the perimeter. Balls are arranged
and installed on the
perimeter of the quadrant or semi-circle to only have one degree of freedom,
i.e. in both X and Y
directions they are restrained by wire ropes, Z is the axis passing through
center to center of the
balls and tangent to the circle, along which the balls are free to move and
vibrate.
The semi-circle engine illustrated in Figures A, B, C, and D, does not show
the actual
number of stationary balls. In order for the engine to work and generate
thrust, at least 45-50
stationary balls are required to be assembled on a quadrant design, and 90-100
balls on a semi-circle
design. The quadrant or semi-circle styles are two different designs of the
same concept. There are
only two dynamic/colliding balls in either semi-circle or quadrant design, as
in a Newton's cradle
when only one ball is raised and released. The electromagnets are used to pull
or push the dynamic
balls at the exact moment they come to a stop and reverse direction. And the
chassis or frame acts as
the second mass, to which balls collide elastically and rebound, thereby no
energy is lost. A typical
wire rope attachment to the stationary balls is shown in Fig. A (note: all
stationary balls should have
the same restraints, however not shown in Fig. A). Wire ropes or similar
flexible light-weight
materials are used since there should be no significant masses attached to the
stationary balls as any
unwanted extra mass attached or connected to them would dissipate energy,
resulting in substantial
loss of energy and rendering the engine completely ineffective. As for the
material the balls are
made out of, the harder and the tougher, the better. Tungsten Carbide, for
instance, is approximately
3 times tougher and stiffer than stainless steel, making it a good choice of
material for the
manufacturing of the balls.

Representative Drawing