The Big Story

Interstellar Travel Jim Woodward

  • Image may contain Machine and Lathe
    Photograph: Rozette Rago
    01
    A homemade vacuum chamber houses Woodward’s Mach-effect thruster and test stand. The smallest breeze would invalidate the results.
  • Image may contain Machine Electronics Camera and Light
    Photograph: Rozette Rago
    02
    Fearn uses an old pair of Woodward’s glasses to focus the web camera that photographs the experiments.
  • Image may contain Machine and Building
    Photograph: Rozette Rago
    03
    Woodward’s Mach-effect gravity assist drive is mounted at the end of a torsion balance in a vacuum chamber. The device is only a few inches long.
  • Image may contain Machine and Lathe
    Photograph: Rozette Rago
    04
    Because the thrust they are looking for is so small, Woodward and his graduate student Tom Mahood built a custom test stand for the Mach-effect drive.
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