14 DAY TRIAL // Flying saucers have fascinated people for years and the hundreds of thousands of UFO sightings reported during the past decades have done a pretty good job in fueling the public's interest in this so-called alien design. However, until the aliens decide to let us into their best protected secrets, we'll just have to make do with the latest flying saucer design created by Subrata Roy of the University of Florida, called a 'wingless electromagnetic air vehicle'.
Although the battery powered prototype proposed by Roy measures 15.2 centimeters across, it has a good chance of being scaled up in the near future, since theoretical predictions say that it should work much in the same way as the low scale version. For now, the aircraft can be used for applications such as surveillance and navigation only, but since NASA and the US Air Force have already expressed interest in the vehicle, it's not entirely impossible that we see it soon gliding through the Earth's atmosphere or maybe even those of other planets in the solar system. "This is a very novel concept, and if it's successful, it will be revolutionary", said Roy.
The propulsion system of the aircraft makes use of an effect known as magnetohydrodynamics, which produces thrust by circulating currents or a magnetic field through the fluid surrounding an object. This is done with the help of a magnetic field that induces electric currents in the fluid, thus producing a thrust force powerful enough to provide lift, momentum and stability. The maximum contact area between air and the surface of the vehicle is created in the new aircraft by the curved and partially hollow design.
However, the most revolutionary aspect of the design proposed by Roy is the lack of any moving parts, as opposed to traditional aircraft designs that required multiple moving parts and surfaces to maintain propulsion, stability and lift. Additionally, the new flying saucer would also have hovering and vertical takeoff capabilities, yet another advantage over most traditional aircraft designs.
Nowadays, there is no known aircraft using plasma-propulsion capable of lifting it off the surface of the Earth. However, plasma propelled spacecrafts have been built and have been used for space exploration purposes, since gravitational field and drag are minimal there. Plasma engines are currently capable of producing only small levels of thrust, but by using Roy's design the thrust could be amplified to levels where it would become of practical use in the Earth's atmosphere.
One of the biggest problems so far is finding a power source light and powerful enough to accelerate the plasma to the required thrust levels and take care of the electromagnetic interferences produced by plasma, which would cut off all communications with the vehicle. "Of course the risk is huge, but so is the payoff. If successful, we will have an aircraft, a saucer and a helicopter all in one embodiment", Roy added.