{"id":14415,"date":"2018-11-26T02:36:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T02:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=14415"},"modified":"2018-11-27T02:39:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T02:39:27","slug":"inspired-by-sci-fi-an-airplane-with-no-moving-parts-and-a-blue-ionic-glow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/inspired-by-sci-fi-an-airplane-with-no-moving-parts-and-a-blue-ionic-glow\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspired by sci-fi, an airplane with no moving parts and a blue ionic glow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/steven-barrett-599552\">Steven Barrett<\/a>, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-1193\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines. But watching science fiction movies like the \u201cStar Wars,\u201d \u201cStar Trek\u201d and \u201cBack to the Future\u201d series, I imagined that the propulsion systems of the future would be silent and still \u2013 maybe with some kind of blue glow and \u201cwhoosh\u201d noise, but no moving parts, and no stream of pollution pouring out the back.<\/p>\n<figure>\n            <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rVzbyDq3QSY?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Science fiction inspires research and reality.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t exist yet, but there is at least one physical principle that could be promising. About nine years ago, I started investigating <a href=\"http:\/\/news.mit.edu\/2013\/ionic-thrusters-0403\">using ionic winds<\/a> \u2013 flows of charged particles through the air \u2013 as a means of powering flight. Building on decades of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/military\/a8889\/ion-thrusters-from-science-fair-experiment-to-aircraft-engine-15326499\/\">research and experimentation<\/a> by academics and hobbyists, professionals and high school science students, my <a href=\"http:\/\/lae.mit.edu\/\">research<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/barrett.mit.edu\/group\">group<\/a> recently flew a <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-018-0707-9\">nearly silent airplane without any moving parts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The plane weighed about five pounds (2.45 kilograms) and had a wingspan of 15 feet (5 meters), and traveled about 180 feet (60 meters), so it\u2019s a long way from efficiently carrying cargo or people long distances. But we have proved that it is possible to fly a heavier-than-air vehicle using ionic winds. It even has a glow you can see in the dark.<\/p>\n<figure>\n            <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dEvMNKD7yFA?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A plane powered by ionic wind takes flight.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Revisiting discarded research<\/h2>\n<p>The process our plane uses, formally called electroaerodynamic propulsion, was investigated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2003\/08\/pwr-antigravity\/\">as far back as the 1920s<\/a> by an eccentric scientist who thought he had discovered anti-gravity \u2013 which was of course not the case. In the 1960s, aerospace engineers <a href=\"https:\/\/patents.google.com\/patent\/US3130945A\/en\">explored using it to power flight<\/a>, but they concluded that wouldn\u2019t be possible with the understanding of ionic winds and the technology available at the time.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, however, a huge number of hobbyists \u2013 and high school students doing science fair projects \u2013 have built small electroaerodynamic propulsion devices that suggested it could work after all. Their work was pivotal to the early days of my group\u2019s work. We sought to improve on their work, most notably by conducting a large series of experiments to learn how to optimize the design of electroaerodynamic thrusters.<\/p>\n<figure>\n            <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OUZ62_rn3oo?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">A homemade lifter using the same principle as the new MIT airplane.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Moving the air, not the plane parts<\/h2>\n<p>The underlying physics of electroaerodynamic propulsion is relatively straightforward to explain and implement, although some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Corona_discharge#Mechanism\">underlying physics is complex<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>We use a thin filament or wire that is charged to +20,000 volts using a lightweight power converter, which in turn gets its power from a lithium-polymer battery. The thin filaments are called emitters, and are nearer the front of the plane. Around these emitters the electric field is so strong that the air gets ionized \u2013 neutral nitrogen molecules lose an electron and become positively charged nitrogen ions. <\/p>\n<p>Farther back on the plane we place an airfoil \u2013 like a small wing \u2013 whose leading edge is electrically conductive and charged to -20,000 volts by the same power converter. This is called the collector. The collector attracts the positive ions toward it. As the ions stream from the emitter to the collector, they collide with uncharged air molecules, causing what is termed an ionic wind that flows between the emitters and collectors, propelling the plane forward.<\/p>\n<figure>\n            <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TeJyMbSSUIc?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">How MIT\u2019s airplane works.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This ionic wind replaces the flow of air that a jet engine or propeller would create.<\/p>\n<h2>Starting small<\/h2>\n<p>I have <a href=\"http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rspa.2014.0912\">led research<\/a> that has <a href=\"http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rspa.2012.0623\">explored how<\/a> this type of propulsion actually works, developing detailed knowledge of how efficient and powerful it can be.<\/p>\n<p>My team and I have also worked with electrical engineers to develop the electronics necessary to convert batteries\u2019 output to the tens of thousands of volts needed to create an ionic wind. The team was able to produce a power converter far lighter than any previously available. That device was small enough to be practical in an aircraft design, which we were ultimately able to build and fly.<\/p>\n<figure>\n            <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"440\" height=\"260\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/boB6qu5dcCw?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Steven Barrett speaks in a \u2018Nature\u2019 mini-documentary about the first flight of an ionic-wind-driven plane.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Our first flight is, of course, a very long way from flying people. We\u2019re already working on making this type of propulsion more efficient and capable of carrying larger loads. The first commercial applications, assuming it gets that far, could be in making silent fixed-wing drones, including for environmental monitoring and communication platforms.<\/p>\n<p>Looking farther into the future, we hope that it could be used in larger aircraft to reduce noise and even allow an aircraft\u2019s exterior skin to help produce thrust, either in place of engines or to augment their power. It\u2019s also possible that electroaerodynamic equipment could be miniaturized, enabling a new variety of nano-drones. Many might believe these possibilities are unlikely or even impossible. But that\u2019s what the engineers of the 1960s thought about what we\u2019re already doing today.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/107233\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important\" \/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/steven-barrett-599552\">Steven Barrett<\/a>, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-1193\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/inspired-by-sci-fi-an-airplane-with-no-moving-parts-and-a-blue-ionic-glow-107233\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steven Barrett, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines. But watching science fiction movies like the \u201cStar Wars,\u201d \u201cStar Trek\u201d and \u201cBack to the Future\u201d series, I imagined that the propulsion systems of the future [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":14411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3410],"tags":[2566,5497,5498,404,5496,403],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14416,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14415\/revisions\/14416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}