[Spaceships] Real Life Non-Super Science Reactionless Engines

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Having that from NASA seems weird. Genuinely bad experiment control by NASA, or just a badly-written article?

Hard to say, as we can't access the full article (which appears to have actually been a presentation). The two bits Anthony referenced do sound like maybe they could be problematic - microwaves might heat up the sealed container (so we're just looking at a fancy hot-air balloon)*, and the fact they apparently designed a device that wouldn't work, and yet it did implies something screwy is going on in the experiment.

*I assume this is the problem you were referring to, Anthony. I don't really have the physics background to think up any other issue with it being closed and at standard atmospheric pressure (aside from being at atmospheric pressure doesn't lend itself well to figuring out how the device would function in the vacuum of space).