Quote:
Originally Posted by modest
I don't see how it would work either. As Will said, there's nothing you can do inside the elevator to move its center of mass. So, it's not going to accelerate. Unless some mass leaves the craft or some force acts on the craft - it's not going to accelerate.
~modest
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I'm guessing that some mass is leaving the craft somehow; I don't really doubt that the engine works, I just have doubt that the engine works as he describes it.
In the end, this drive may still prove to be a viable replacement for ion thrusters.
My other comments were I suppose feeble attempts to understand Shawyer's rationale of his device as an open system; he is essentially viewing the emitter as not attached to the mass of the device itself, which SEEMS (to me) to be the basis of his insistence that this device does not break existing laws of physics.
Thanks for your patience with me - I'm still learning....
