• Source: Warp drive

A warp drive or a drive enabling space warp is a fictional superluminal (faster than the speed of light) spacecraft propulsion system in many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek, and a subject of ongoing physics research. The general concept of "warp drive" was introduced by John W. Campbell in his 1957 novel Islands of Space and was popularized by the Star Trek series. Its closest real-life equivalent is the Alcubierre drive, a theoretical solution of the field equations of general relativity.




History and characteristics


Warp drive, or a drive enabling space warp, is one of several ways of travelling through space found in science fiction. It has been often discussed as being conceptually similar to hyperspace.: 238–239  A warp drive is a device that distorts the shape of the space-time continuum.: 142  A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at speeds greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude. In contrast to some other fictitious faster-than-light technologies such as a jump drive, the warp drive does not permit instantaneous travel and transfers between two points, but rather involves a measurable passage of time which is pertinent to the concept. In contrast to hyperspace, spacecraft at warp velocity would continue to interact with objects in "normal space".
The general concept of warp drive was introduced by John W. Campbell in his 1957 novel Islands of Space.: 77  Brave New Words gave the earliest example of the term "space-warp drive" as Fredric Brown's Gateway to Darkness (1949), and also cited an unnamed story from Cosmic Stories (May 1941) as using the word "warp" in the context of space travel, although the usage of this term as a "bend or curvature" in space which facilitates travel can be traced to several works as far back as the mid-1930s, for example Jack Williamson's The Cometeers (1936).: 212, 268 




Einstein's space warp and real-world physics



Einstein's theory of special relativity states that speed of light travel is impossible for material objects that, unlike photons, have a non-zero rest mass. The problem of a material object exceeding light speed is that an infinite amount of kinetic energy would be required to travel at exactly the speed of light. Warp drives are one of the science-fiction tropes that serve to circumvent this limitation in fiction to facilitate stories set at galactic scales. However, the concept of space warp has been criticized as "illogical", and has been connected to several other rubber science ideas that do not fit into our current understanding of physics, such as antigravity or negative mass.
Some argue that these effects mean that although it's not possible to travel faster than the speed of light, both space and time "warp" to allow travelling the distance of one light year, in less than a year. Although it is not possible to travel faster than the speed of light, the effective speed is faster than light. This warping of space and time is precisely mathematically specified by the Lorentz factor, which depends on velocity. Although only theoretical when published over 100 years ago, the effect has since been measured and confirmed many times. In the limit, at light speed time stops completely (relative to a certain reference frame) and it is possible to travel infinite distances across space with no passage of time.
Although the concept of warp drive has originated in fiction, it has received some scientific consideration, most notably related to the 1990s concept of the Alcubierre drive. Alcubierre stated in an email to William Shatner that his theory was directly inspired by the term used in the TV series Star Trek and cites the "'warp drive' of science fiction" in his 1994 article.
In 2021, DARPA-funded researcher Harold White, of the Limitless Space Institute, claimed that he had succeeded in creating a real warp bubble, saying "our detailed numerical analysis of our custom Casimir cavities helped us identify a real and manufacturable nano/microstructure that is predicted to generate a negative vacuum energy density such that it would manifest a real nanoscale warp bubble, not an analog, but the real thing."




Star Trek



Warp drive is one of the fundamental features of the Star Trek franchise and one of the best-known examples of space warp (warp drive) in fiction. In the first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Cage", it is referred to as a "hyperdrive", with Captain Pike stating the speed to reach planet Talos IV as "time warp, factor 7". The warp drive in Star Trek is one of the most detailed fictional technologies. Compared to the hyperspace drives of other fictional universes, it differs in that a spaceship does not leave the normal space-time continuum and instead the space-time itself is distorted, as is made possible in the general theory of relativity.
The basic functional principle of the warp drive in Star Trek is the same for all spaceships. A strong energy source, usually a so-called warp core or sometimes called intermix chamber, generates a high-energy plasma. This plasma is transported to the so-called warp field generators via lines that are reminiscent of pipes. These generators are basically coils in warp nacelles protruding from the spaceship. These generate a subspace field, the so-called warp field or a warp bubble, which distort space-time and propels the bubble and spaceship in the bubble forward.
The warp core can be designed in various forms. Humans and most of the other fictional races use a moderated reaction of antideuterium and deuterium. The energy produced passes through a matrix, which is made of a fictional chemical element, called dilithium. However, other species are shown to use different methods for faster-than-light propulsion. The Romulans, for example, use artificial micro-black holes called quantum singularities.
The speeds are given in warp factors and follow a geometric progression. The first scale developed by Franz Joseph was simply a cubic progression with no limit. This leads to the use of ever growing warp factors in the Original Series and the Animated Series. For example, warp 14.1 in the TOS-episode "That Which Survives" or warp 36 in the TAS-episode "The Counter-Clock Incident". In order to focus more on the story and away from the technobabble, Gene Roddenberry commissioned Michael Okuda to invent a revised warp scale. Warp 10 should be the absolute limit and stand for infinite speed. In homage to Gene Roddenberry, this limit was also called "Eugene's Limit". Okuda explains this in an author's comment in his technical manual for the USS Enterprise-D. Between Warp 1 (the speed of light) and Warp 9, the increase was still roughly geometric, but the exponent was adjusted so that the speeds were higher compared to the old scale. For instance, Warp 9 is more than 1500 times faster than Warp 1 in comparison to the 729 times (nine to the power of 3) calculated using the original cubic formula. In the same author's comment, Okuda explains that the motivation was to fulfill fan expectations that the new Enterprise is much faster than the original, but without changing the warp factor numbers. Between Warp 9 and Warp 10, the new scale grows exponentially. Only in a single episode of Star Trek Voyager there was a specific numerical speed value given for a warp factor. In the episode "The 37's", Tom Paris tells Amelia Earhart that Warp 9.9 is about 4 billion miles per second (using customary units for the character's benefit). That is more than 14 times the value of Warp 9 and equal to around 21,400 times speed of light. However, this statement contradicts the technical manuals and encyclopedias written by Rick Sternbach and Michael Okuda, where a speed of 3053 times the speed of light was established for a warp factor of 9.9 and a speed of 7912 times the speed of light for a warp factor of 9.99. Both numerical values are well below the value given by Tom Paris.
In the episode "Vis à Vis", a coaxial warp drive is mentioned. The working principle is explained in more detail in the Star Trek Encyclopedia. This variant of a warp drive uses spatial folding instead of a warp field and allows an instant movement with nearly infinite velocity.
Star Trek has also introduced a so-called Transwarp concept, but without a fixed definition. It is effectively a catch-all phrase for any and all technologies and natural phenomena that enable speeds above Warp 9.99.

Rick Sternbach described the basic idea in the Technical Manual: "Finally, we had to provide some loophole for various powerful aliens like Q, who have a knack for tossing the ship million of light years in the time of a commercial break. [...] This lets Q and his friends have fun in the 9.9999+ range, but also lets our ship travel slowly enough to keep the galaxy a big place, and meets the other criteria."




See also


Bussard collector
Exotic matter
Gravitational interaction of antimatter
Krasnikov tube
Negative energy
Tachyons
Timeline of black hole physics
Timeline of gravitational physics and relativity




References






External links



Embedding of the Alcubierre Warp drive 2d plot in Google
Warp drive at Memory Alpha

Warp core at Memory Alpha

Transwarp drive at Memory Alpha

Quantum slipstream drive at Memory Alpha
Warp Drive, When? A NASA feasibility article Archived 2008-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
Special Relativity Simulator What would things look like at near-warp speeds?
Alcubierre Warp Drive at the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight
"Warp drive possible". BBC News. 1999-06-10. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
The Warp Drive Could Become Science Fact Archived 2012-11-23 at the Wayback Machine
• Source: Warp Drive

Warp Drive is a short street in Sterling, Virginia, United States. Originally named Steeplechase Drive, it is located in an industrial park off Atlantic Boulevard, and primarily serves as the address for Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, an aerospace company. The street ends at a circle where an off-ramp from Virginia State Highway 28 joins from the opposite direction.
In 2011, employees of Orbital Sciences—later acquired by Northrop—asked the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to rename their street after the warp drive that allows ships in the Star Trek universe to travel faster than light. The supervisors voted unanimously to make it so (several of them using catchphrases associated with the franchise).




Street



Warp Drive's eastern terminus is a signalized three-way intersection with Atlantic Boulevard, roughly one half-mile (800 m) north of its southern terminus at Church Road (Virginia State Route 625) at Sterling. The area is developed in a pattern typical of eastern Loudoun County's edge-city suburban sprawl. On either side of Atlantic at the intersection are office buildings surrounded by parking lots, all facilities of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, with some newer residential subdivisions to the southeast and, across the Cabin Branch of Broad Run, the east. The Washington & Old Dominion Trail runs to the immediate southwest.
To the northeast is another office building with an artificial pond. The northwest corner of the intersection, and the entire north side of Warp Drive, is a large undeveloped parcel. From the intersection, the street runs 300 ft (100 m) west, divided by a grass median strip, to a small traffic circle that gives access to driveways into Orbital's facilities on the north and south. On the west side is the end of a one-way offramp that gives access to Warp from Sully Road (Virginia State Route 28), roughly 500 feet (150 m) to the west.




History



Orbital Sciences Corporation was founded in 1982 to provide rocket engines and parts to aerospace and defense customers public and private. It has always been headquartered in Northern Virginia, like many other defense contractors. In 1993 it moved into its current complex in Sterling.
At that time the short street where Orbital was located was known as Steeplechase Drive. In 2011 the company's executives, who were fans of Star Trek, asked the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to formally rename the street Warp Drive, after the faster-than-light "warp drive" propulsion technology used by the franchise's starships. At the last meeting of the year, the board voted unanimously to grant the request.
Officially, the county said the change was made to "improve the identity and to better integrate the Orbital campus." But supervisors were less formal when discussing the issue, which had originally been on a consent agenda. Several cast their votes with catchphrases from the original Star Trek series. "To Orbital, live long and prosper," said Stevens Miller, who lived in Sterling. Board member Eugene Delgaudio asked, "Can you give me any speed, Scotty?", incorrectly using a Scottish accent as he did so.
One supervisor, Jim Burton of the Blue Ridge District, tried to be serious. He reminded the board that "warp" had other meanings. "You need to think about it before you vote on it" he warned. "Would you prefer 'Beam me up, Scotty?'", the board's chairman replied. In the end the vote was unanimous. "What more uplifting motion could there possibly be than something that will literally make law out of a Star Trek joke?" concluded Miller. "It's a great idea. I look forward to driving on Warp Drive myself." Orbital agreed to reimburse the county for the approximately $500 it would cost to replace the street sign.
The online Ashburn Patch noted how the name change reflected the changes to Loudoun County in the past two decades. While the western portion of the county has stayed largely rural and agricultural, as evoked by the street's original name of Steeplechase Drive, eastern Loudoun has grown tremendously during that same time as many businesses, in particular high-tech defense contractors like Orbital, have located in the area. "So Orbital's request to change the name of the road along its perimeter from Steeplechase Drive to Warp Drive brings to mind the county's dichotomy," it observed. "Out with the horse-racing theme and in with space."
On September 18, 2017, Northrop Grumman announced plans to purchase Orbital for $7.8 billion in cash plus assumption of $1.4 billion in debt. Orbital shareholders approved the buyout on November 29, 2017. The FTC approved the acquisition with conditions on June 5, 2018, and one day later, Orbital was absorbed and became Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.




See also


Cultural influence of Star Trek




Notes






References






External links


Media related to Warp Drive (Sterling, Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons

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