Spacecraft Propulsion

Rocket engines are the way we propel spacecraft from Earth into outer space and how we maneuver spacecraft around once they reach outer space. We know no better way to get objects to move to where we want them once they are in the cold vacuum of outer space. But perhaps there is an alternative way to create thrust on a spacecraft without relying on rockets and rocket fuel, which carries with it the problem of extra spacecraft weight plus the fact that it runs out -- so careful fuel budgeting is necessary.

Now imagine that outer space is not empty at all but is filled with hidden energy and particles that, like a plane on Earth using air as the thrusting medium, can be utilized to create thrust to push the craft where we want it to go. Imagine that the basic principle of Newton's third law, where every action has an equal and opposite reaction, must always hold true for any form of propulsion whether on Earth or in space. This principle is the reason behind why vehicles can drive on the road (the wheels push on the road and the road pushes back on the vehicle causing it to move forward), or why rockets can fly (they eject gases at high speed which pushes back on the rocket causing thrust in the forward direction).

So we can figure out a way to apply this principle in the vacuum of space. But for this to be possible, the vacuum of space must have something to "push against". The technology enabling this must therefore be able to "push against" whatever is present in outer space, and everywhere else, in order to propel a craft.

But what exists everywhere that can be used as a "medium" to create thrust everywhere in the universe? Well there are a few candidates, such as energy and particles that we do not yet know about. And there is light itself, which can always be emitted, and doesn't run out (unlike fuel) as long as you have an energy source present. So maybe there's a way to manipulate a beam of light to create a lot of thrust on a spacecraft using some exotic futuristic physics. And also there is time itself, which is obviously everywhere. What if time particles, speculated to be tachyons, can actually be used as a means to generate thrust?

The technology involved may be that you generate a field around the spacecraft that "sucks in" the universally available energy and/or particles and ejects them at a higher speed in the direction opposite where you want the spacecraft to go. This is the same principle that aircraft uses. The propellers or turbines suck in air from the front and accelerate it out the back at a faster speed, creating forward thrust on the aircraft, based on Newton's third law.

The spacecraft may need a large funnel-like field in front of it to accumulate and draw in enough energy and/or particles to create the thrust it needs to move around.

But such a craft would need a reliable energy source with which to create the field necessary to draw in and push out the interstellar "material" for propulsion purposes. Anti-matter is likely a good energy source for such a field generator.

On a planet like Earth you may not need such a propulsion system, and instead you would simply harness the gravity field of the planet to create thrust in any direction you want. This is basically a planetary or antigravity drive.

The many UFOs that people around the world have seen definitely don't run on rocket power, and instead maybe use an exotic form of propulsion like the kind described here.

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