Gravitational corridors that could help spacecraft travel the solar system

Gravitational corridors could help spacecraft fly across the solar system like ships on ocean currents, it was revealed today.
Scientists in the United States are trying to map the twisting 'tubes' so they can be used to cut the cost of space travel.
Each one acts like a gravitational Gulf Stream, created from the complex interplay of attractive forces between planets and moons.

Kind of reminds me of the findings some time ago about the gravitational portals that open up between the sun and the earth every 8 minutes (or was it 8 seconds).

It makes you wonder whether there are worm-holes, and as our knowledge increases in the manipulation of gravity if these passageways can be used with far greater effect (unless of course they already are!).

Article here

That's a cool visualization. No these aren't wormholes, they aren't shortcuts, you still have to cover the distance. They are just paths which would allow spacecraft to "fall" from one place to another. A good way to save fuel if you're not in a hurry.

The "portals" that open between the Sun and the Earth are not gravitational in nature. They are magnetic. They allow particles of the solar wind to enter Earth's magnetosphere.

Indeed, yes was not trying to state they were worm holes, I just wondered if there could be a connection.

Yes, as the article mentioned it can save fuel (10% I think), but makes not difference to time (we can increase it as you follow a path which may be longer). However, I wonder if as we learn more about gravity and it's manipulation (if possible), if they could then be used for faster, easier pathways.

Ah yes, that was it magnetic between sun and earth. Thanks as I knew it was slightly different. Still I wonder if they are connected?

oooo gravity ! and phage together, that gets me to thinking

i've been reading hyperspace, and the notion that there is a 5th dimension where gravitons are active is really cool

have you read the book and whats your idea on gravity.

reply to post by AlwaysQuestion


Nice find - I question how you would know that you were still in one of these corridors and not have drifted out. Perhaps you would slow down as other gravitational forces influence the space craft. It’s only a matter of time I suspect before its tried with an unmanned craft.
MJ2

Originally posted by majestictwo
reply to post by AlwaysQuestion

 

Nice find - I question how you would know that you were still in one of these corridors and not have drifted out. Perhaps you would slow down as other gravitational forces influence the space craft. It’s only a matter of time I suspect before its tried with an unmanned craft.
MJ2

I wonder that to. I imagine you could "map" them and follow, but I suspect they're in constant movement, which I imagine would make traversing them difficult, so much so that the amount of fuel you save is overshadowed by the amount of micro-navigation changes that would need to be made constantly. This is just my speculation though, I don't know how they actually work.

This is a really interesting discovery, it makes sense that there would be some kind of gravitational current...gotta say that it kind of reminds me of the concept of vectors, just happened to pop into my head upon seeing that stunning photo.

-Sunseeker

Hey Phage, do you have any idea how fast/slow a spacecraft travelling via these can get? It relates it to ocean currents, so I have a feeling it is slow.. but space is very big so it would be useless if that was the case.

for some reason the artist rendition of the gravity "highways" looks somewhat similar to a few of the lates crop circles,just a observation

Originally posted by Phage
That's a cool visualization. No these aren't wormholes, they aren't shortcuts, you still have to cover the distance. They are just paths which would allow spacecraft to "fall" from one place to another. A good way to save fuel if you're not in a hurry.

The "portals" that open between the Sun and the Earth are not gravitational in nature. They are magnetic. They allow particles of the solar wind to enter Earth's magnetosphere.

I'm not sure how long people should could or would be subjected to those kinds of trips, but what about probes? Concievably, couldn't we create a long lifed probe and shoot it off into one of these corridors to explore far away places that we have never seen? I love the possibilities of that and want to know what's out there, but I am also deathly afraaid of that.

reply to post by AlwaysQuestion


Well it seems like it is a step towards the right direction. Today they search for gravitational corridors, tomorrow maybe interdimensional -- corridors. You may never know!

I wonder if these guys do in fact visit ATS.

[edit on 11-9-2009 by spacebot]

well if it turns out true that gravity is seeping thru from the 5th dimension then your closer to an inter-dimensional corridor than you think

i've been reading hyperspace and it deals a lot with gravity, i love this freaking book haha anyways, it unifies gravity and light both into the 5th dimension. What we see of both is like ripples on a pond

if you've never read hyperspace its a must read

As we know, gravity expresses itself as a unidirectional acceleration at the point you're being affected by it so, in a frictionless environment like space, acceleration would continue unabated as long you're within one of these 'corridors' until you either ran into something or a bend in the corridor was tight enough for you to 'come off the rails' if going too fast.

Nice idea but I don't see these corridors being sufficiently well defined for us to use, if they actually exist that is. Wouldn't we be seeing asteroids & comets etc being whisked along these corridors following paths that defied standard orbital patterns to some degree?

I liked this part :

The Genesis spacecraft was launched in 2004 to capture solar wind particles and return them to Earth. Following the gravitational pathways allowed the amount of fuel carried by the probe to be cut tenfold.

Tenfold!