If we assume that the claims for the EmDrive, Woodward effect and/or quantum vacuum plasma thruster are born out (notice I did NOT mention the Dean Drive), what would be the upper limit of potential applications based on predicted if not measured force per unit of input power and present-day power generation technologies (including nuclear)?
Some of the stated results seem to suggest that for practical power input, only modest forces yielding tiny fractions of a g could be applied to a spacecraft, making reactionless drive (if it actually works) suitable for nothing more than orbital stationkeeping or long duration robotic spaceflight.
Other numbers seem to suggest far greater capability: enough force per unit power to yield more than 1g vehicle acceleration for current power generation technologies. One could imagine flying cars, easy flight into space, and interplanetary vehicles completing trips in hours.
What is the source of the disparity in claims? Are there errors in the physics/math? Are the differences due to different mechanisms of operation (e.g. Woodward effect vs quantum vacuum plasma)?
Of course this is all based on claims which have yet to be rigorously proven out.
What are the claimed yields in force per unit power and what is the potential scalability for each of the proposed reactionless drive concepts/principles? Are we talking space probe microthrusters, flying cars, or flying battleships? How close is each principle to a peer reviewed science based answer as to whether it is a reality with a reference design or merely some experimental error, anomaly, or hoax? Are we talking months, years, or decades?
By the way... where does the input power go in these drives? If a test article is simply pushing against a stationary test instrument, is all input the power converted to heat in the device, or does some of it disappear into the quantum vacuum foam or whatever (as with the putative momentum transfer)?
