4 ms·
From about a month ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8114188 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8114188 Basic summary is that it's interesting, but a
by daeken 12y ago
From about a month ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8114188 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8114188
Basic summary is that it's interesting, but almost definitely not doing what we think it is. Between the dummy thruster producing thrust, and the real thruster producing a thousandth the power measured in the Chinese test, this is likely an odd mismeasurement.
- netcraft 12y agoI believe it was eventually understood that the "dummy" wasn't a complete control, it was just there to prove whether or not the hypothesized mechanism of the thrust was actually responsible or not (and that it ruled out that theory).
- readerrrr 12y agoCorrect. It is misleading to say that the "dummy" produced thrust. There were two versions of the engine; both produced thrust and there was a control unit which didn't.