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By Hal McKenzie
While teams throughout the world are competing for the X-Prize, which awards $10 million for the privately-funded team that first lofts three people 62 miles above the earth and returns them safely, one American company is marketing a design for a craft they claim can take man to the stars Star-Trek fashion, at "warp speed."
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Artist's conception of Unitel's starship
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The theoretical physics of interstellar travel, including wormholes and antimatter drive, is already being discussed in scientific journals. The engineers and scientists at Unitel Northwest in Portland, OR, have gone beyond the theoretical. They have published detailed specifications for a craft that would use exotic quantum physics to "tunnel" its way to distant stars at faster than light speed.
The technology includes a "smart skin" that acts as an energy shield to counteract reentry heat and radiation, which would have saved the Columbia shuttle crew. They are now looking for investment capital to fund a prototype craft.
According to the company website, "Unitel, Inc. will provide mankind with the first practical interstellar transportation system. Based on our patented laser lens and specifically shaped hull, our aerospace propulsion system will feature two modes of transportation: Electromagnetic propulsion, which will be used for short-range interplanetary travel, while elastic tunneling will allow interstellar travel throughout the universe."
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