Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering (entered by Rep. Burchett)

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relative to the reference frame of background space, energy bonds of materials
strengthened (that is, hardened) relative to the background environment, a decrease in
effective mass vis-à-vis the environment, an accelerated timeframe that would permit
rapid trajectory changes relative to the background rest frame without undue internal
stress, and the generation of gravity-like forces of arbitrary geometry—all on the basis
of restructuring the vacuum spacetime variables. As avant garde as such features
appear to be, they are totally in conformance with the principles of general relativity as
currently understood. A remaining challenge is to develop insight into the technological
designs by which such vacuum restructuring can be generated on the scale required to
implement the necessary spacetime modifications.
Despite the challenges, sample calculations as presented herein indicate the direction of
potentially useful trends derivable on the basis of the application of GR principles as
embodied in a metric engineering approach, with the results constrained only by what
is achievable practically in an engineering sense. The latter is, however, a daunting
constraint. At this point in the consideration of such nascent concepts, given our
present level of technological evolution, it is premature to even guess about an
optimum strategy, let alone attempt to form a critical path for the engineering
development of such technologies. Nonetheless, only through rigorous inquiry into such
concepts can one hope to arrive at a proper assessment of the possibilities inherent in
the evolution of advanced spaceflight technologies.
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