NASA’s Warp Drive Research Gets an Enterprising Makeover

Credit: Mark Rademaker

The story itself is not new, with the popular press reporting on the Alcubierre/warp drive theory NASA’s Dr. Sonny White has been working on for several years now, but the images ….. oh my. Gizmodo has an article out providing some graphic renderings of a warp drive starship which would roughly fit within dimensions suggested by Dr. White’s highly theoretical work. And while putting the word “NASA’s” in front of anything still has the power to convey a reality which some would dispute, it’s always a sure way to get attention. Then again putting the name “Enterprise” on the hull of a spaceship isn’t a bad plan either. The article is here. In addition to the gorgeous images, its worth a quick read simply to appreciate the pure geek love coming from the author. If you can’t feel it, at least a little, then why even care? One note. Although the work is extremely speculative at best, it also provides a good example of how many believe NASA should be spending a bit more of its resources, unashamedly pushing the boundaries of basic research. With the NRC having published a report about Mars last week which, if taken at face value sucks nearly every bit of hope out of aspirations for the human exploration of inner solar system, we’re going to need some breakthroughs some where. Of course, perhaps it should not be taken at face value.