‘Star Trek’ force field could help protect real astronauts in space

William Atkins
Friday, 07 November 2008 21:16

Science - Space

Their abstract states, “Optical and Langmuir probe data of the plasma density, the plasma flow velocity and the intensity of the dipole field clearly show the creation of a narrow transport barrier region and diamagnetic cavity virtually devoid of energetic plasma particles.”

In other words: It worked!

Dr. Bamford exclaimed when the results of the experiment came through: "You don't expect experiments to work first time.” She added, “But this did. It was very clear that it was doing its job."

The abstract concludes, “This demonstrates the potential viability of being able to create a small 'hole' in a solar wind plasma, of the order of the ion Larmor orbit width, in which an inhabited spacecraft could reside in relative safety. The experimental results have been quantitatively compared with a 3D particle-in-cell 'hybrid' code simulation that uses kinetic ions and fluid electrons, showing good qualitative agreement and excellent quantitative agreement."

And, "Together the results demonstrate the pivotal role of particle kinetics in determining generic plasma transport barriers.”

The next step for the eventually development of a “Star Trek” shield (magnetic field) is to find a way to make sure the magnetic field does not enter the spacecraft and harm the astronauts.

For more information on the Star-Trek type force field, please read the November 4, 2008 Institute of Physics article “New spaceship force field makes Mars trip possible.”

Those engineers and physicists are pretty ingenious. I'm sure they will succeed in coming up with an effective way to shield astronauts to Mars.

Remember, Mr. Spock was regularly inventing high-tech things out of "stone knives and bearskins."