Future of Propulsion?

[cartmancakes]

The below website is a bit beyond my math skills.  I know that some of you are more advanced on the rocket science and higher mathematics of propulsion that I am.  I'm curious...  Is this guy full of crap or is this legit?

http://nlspropulsion.net/default.aspx


note: There is a lot more math in the pdf file on the website...

[Satanic Mechanic]

It is a scam.  He claims to have made a breakthrough in propulsion, has a published theory and a patent pending, but all I see is a weak hypothesis, a bunch of quotes from famous people and some equations.  By the way, some of the equations are written incorrectly.  At least he could looked up a physics or electrical engineering book for the correct equations.  There is no info on this Michael Thomas guy or what education credentials he possesses.
I have seen many of these types of web scams in the electric vehicle world and they go by many names: new propulsion system, wind assisted turbine, generator on tire or 3,000 mile batteries.

SM

[cartmancakes]

I figured that's what it was.  But I couldn't verify the equations...

Most people with true breakthroughs are already affiliated with some research group.  Otherwise it's just a math exercise...

[Satanic Mechanic]

Cartmancakes,
If you really want to put the final nail in the coffin of this guy, go after him for use of the "Patent Pending".  If the guy did not file at the U.S. Patent Office, but uses "Patent Pending", that is a fraud.  Ask him when he filed and under what name.  I believe you can now look up online to see if he filed or not.
Patent law is tricky.  I tried to patent once but ended up copyrighting instead.  Getting a patent is very expensive because you have to pay for the research to make sure your patent does not infringe on anyone else's patent(s).  Last time I looked, it cost around US$15,000-20,000 for the research.

SM

[DonPMitchell]

Typical crank site.

But even NASA gets fooled sometimes into funding cranks science.  The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts is almost entirely comprised of bogus projects that are getting tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in government aid.  Supposedly it was shut down in August of this year, but their website still continues to say they are funded by NASA.

[ijuin]

The part that I don't buy into is the idea that currently buildable linear particle accelerators could generate thrust at an efficiency of better than ten millinewtons per Watt of electrical power--that is a full two orders of magnitude greater energy efficiency than current bleeding-edge ion thrusters. He seems to be assuming that the electric current fed into the particle accelerators will be converted into particle momentum with better than eighty percent efficiency, making negligable allowances for refrigeration of the superconducting magnets or magnetic energy lost to interaction with things other than the reaction mass or anything else for that matter.

[cartmancakes]

The part that I don't buy into is the idea that currently buildable linear particle accelerators could generate thrust at an efficiency of better than ten millinewtons per Watt of electrical power--that is a full two orders of magnitude greater energy efficiency than current bleeding-edge ion thrusters. He seems to be assuming that the electric current fed into the particle accelerators will be converted into particle momentum with better than eighty percent efficiency, making negligable allowances for refrigeration of the superconducting magnets or magnetic energy lost to interaction with things other than the reaction mass or anything else for that matter.

Very good example of why I posted this here.  I have no idea about that stuff, and couldn't've made half that paragraph...