I was thinking about this Alcubierre Warp metric. While I was working in the space program, I was thinking about this Advanced Power propulsion. SW: So I started working in the space program in 2000. TD: When did the idea come to you to try and, for lack of a better term, ‘update’ that idea? And it was just kind of neat to think about. I read it a few times just because I really enjoyed some of the implications of the mathematics he had put together with his little toy model. I was working at Boeing up in Wichita, Kansas. SW: I think I became aware of the paper in ‘97. TD: When did you first learn of Miguel Alcubierre’s Warp Drive Concept? So I think that it’s cool when art, some beautiful vision that’s cast by art, motivates us to try and to figure out what’s necessary to make something like that possible, or is it possible? And so yes, it’s cool to see that connection. He was just kind of “what if?” This stuff that we see, “what if?” What does it look like in the formal mathematics of general relativity? I think that motivated Miguel Alcubierre when he wrote this paper on the idea of a space warp. It’s powerful to see some of the things that could potentially be possible. I think certainly, those things color your thoughts about what might be possible. TD: It wasn’t like science was jumping off the screen, and you were saying, “I want to be the first guy to build the phaser?” And so I think, while I like the idea of bold space exploration, and I like science fiction, it’s not like that’s connected at the hip, if you will. The same thing was true with a lot of the Star Trek TV shows, and there were a lot of good stories. ![]() And the science fiction was kind of a backdrop. It was neat to see people going through these challenges that they were going through. And I think the Star Wars that we grew up with, those were really good stories. TD: Did advanced propulsion concepts in science fiction interest you? Were you a Star Wars or Star Trek guy growing up at all? The stuff we see in science fiction stories, what does it take to do that? I’ve always had a healthy interest in airplanes, and that really steered me down a path where I knew I wanted to work in aerospace.Īnd as I got more and more knowledge, I tended to get more focused on this idea of bold space exploration. And so, as a young kid, I got a chance to look at all these incredible achievements. When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time in the National Air and Space Museum in the Smithsonian. I was blessed to grow up in Washington, DC. I’ve always been interested in trying to figure out how do things fit together? And how do they work? As a kid, I built models. Sonny White: Yeah, you know, I’ve always been very interested in engineering and science. The Debrief: So Sonny, when did you first realize you were interested in a possible career in science? White sat down with The Debrief to talk about his past, what’s next for his warp drive theory, as well as the cutting edge, advanced propulsion projects from scientists around the globe who are supported and sponsored by Limitless Space. Now, in his first interview since he left NASA, Dr. He joined the nascent Limitless Space Institute, a group of scientists and engineers driven by the goal of deep space travel. In 2018, White left NASA and took his work on advanced propulsion with him. White has worked with NASA, DARPA, and even Lockheed Martin Skunkworks, all while continuing to refine his concept of the Warp Drive. Even more revisions have been, and today, the leading model for faster-than-light travel is dubbed the Alcubierre/White Warp Drive. ![]() White made refinements to the original model, and in 20, significant leaps were made in Warp Drive theory, seemingly making the impossible a little more possible. “Sonny” White in the mid-2000s to continue developing the Warp Drive. That concept of a Warp Drive remained in the world of fiction until 1994 when Mexican Mathematician Miguel Alcubierre presented a mathematical model under which a human-piloted craft could theoretically exceed the speed of light.Ī decade passed, but quietly in the background, NASA brought in scientist Dr. When Star Trek premiered on American television in 1966, the world was exposed to the idea of a spaceship traveling faster than the speed of light.
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