NASA’s Advanced Propulsion Team has published a paper proposing a new configuration for a theoretical warp drive that, instead of using a singular ring that encompasses the spacecraft to warp spacetime as a method of propulsion, three separate generators that surround the craft could be employed to solve a number of problems that might arise from such a dramatic bending of space in such a small location.

Over the last few decades a great deal of attention has been placed on developing theories around how a potential warp drive might actually work, especially since theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre applied real-world mathematics to the otherwise-fictitious device in 1994.

Similar to the concept employed by Star Trek’s fictional warp drive, Alcubierre proposed using a localized region of warped spacetime—expanding space to the rear of the craft while compressing it in front—to create a “bubble” of spacetime that would not only propel a spacecraft without the need to expel exhaust like a rocket, but would also negate relativistic effects like time compression, since the craft would otherwise be sitting still within the pocket of spacetime represented by the bubble, while the bubble itself travels through space.

Although the metrics calculated by Alcubierre illustrated that the warp drive concept could be grounded in real-world physics, the concept still had a number of problems to overcome: while later studies found that such a propulsion method could operate using ordinary matter or energy, rather than the exotic matter or energy the concept originally called for, there was still the problem that the intense bending of such a small region of spacetime could result in the crew being subjected to catastrophic tidal forces, along with the possibility that deadly levels of particle radiation could be generated at the edge of the warp bubble.

Although they haven’t come up with a way of actually manipulating the massive amount of energy that an Alcubierre drive would require, NASA’s Advanced Propulsion Team, led by Harold “Sonny” White, have proposed that a simple change to the configuration of the craft could mitigate these latter two issues that balances the geometry of the bubble by using a number of warp generators, housed in nacelles, clustered around the craft.

“No tidal forces, zero-g, clocks on board the spacecraft are synchronized with mission control clocks,” White described of the benefits that a decentralized configuration might provide, adding that it is “quite ideal and a nice characteristic of the original Alcubierre metric.”

While a traditional Alcubierre-style warp bubble is expected to be bubble-shaped, using a design with multiple elongated generators “splits the energy into separate cylinder-shaped tubes, like little engine pods,” according to an illustration published in The Debrief, allowing an operator to “control where and how the energy is used, instead of having one big, fuzzy ring.”

If this sounds similar to the multi-nacelled configuration of Star Trek’s fictional starships, White asserted that “the resemblance to the twin nacelles of the USS Enterprise is not merely aesthetic, but reflects a potential convergence between physical requirements and engineering design, where science-fiction architectures hint at practical pathways for real warp-capable configurations.”

“From my earlier work with the Alcubierre metric, I knew it should be possible to construct warp bubbles based on a nacelle-like topology,” White continued. “The historical IXS Enterprise design was an early step in that direction. We envisioned that two warp rings placed in close proximity could generate a capsule-shaped warp bubble rather than the standard sphere.

“That thought process showed how two distinct topological elements, in that case two rings, could be used to reshape and elongate a spherical bubble.”

Although wrinkles like this are steadily being ironed out, there still remains the issue of how to generate and manipulate the energies required to bend the very fabric of spacetime itself, meaning that “there is a lot of work yet to be done for us to determine how we might practically manifest something like this in the lab,” according to White.

“The most common question I get asked is, ‘When will we have warp drive?'” White added. “My crystal ball does not work any better than anybody else’s, so I don’t know if it will be 20 years, 200 years, or never.

“I know what I need to be doing next, though, so I will do that.”