Most of space is empty, analysis of the path beforehand and a structure that can withstand the smaller objects is really all that's necessary. But those are just as theoretical as this engine.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 16 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Problem is that asteroids are very hard to see, as they are both cold and dark, meaning they don't stand out against space very much at all. And even a micrometeoroid poses a risk even when traveling at low velocities (e.g. someone orbiting earth, the meteoroid itself has a relatively high velocity). Getting hit by a 1cm meteoroid at warp 1 would be devastating.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 months ago

Yes, as I said theoretically. If/by the time this heavily theoretical engine comes to fruition there will probably be ways to detect asteroids better than we have now. Also materials/structural design that are better than what we have now for sustaining the smaller hits. Maybe quantum prediction scanning, maybe a forcefield. Who knows by then.

[–] realitista@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Not an issue if you aren't actually traversing the whole space but rather bending space to get you where you want to go.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago

Well, I'll be long dead before we get a Farnsworth drive running off dark matter.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Simple, the galaxy is pretty much flat so go up, turn 90°, travel until you're over your destination, go down, same as an helicopter!

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

This sounds dumb but honestly is it really a bad plan? I say we go forth on project hyperspeed helicopter

[–] random_character_a@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Just a thought. If you just have a preliminary motion and your travel velocity is due to warping of space, wouldn't objects caught in your warp field just move with you till they exit?

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

We can't even travel that fast to even start theorizing how that would work 🤣

From previous reading on the subject, I believe the main issue with this style of transport would be slowing down so as not to cause a massive explosion of forward moving energy at the barrier of the warp bubble which would build up during travel.

[–] scroll_responsibly@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 6 months ago

Deflector dish like in Star Trek?