this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
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Futurology

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Note that what the mythbusters looked at was a form of ion propulsion. The high voltage on the sharp boundary of the aluminum foil repels air molecules. If you put one of those in a vacuum (or space) it wouldn’t have any thrust.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

If you put one of those in a vacuum (or space) it wouldn’t have any thrust.

IIRC, the MythBusters did exactly that later in the episode. Unsurprisdngly, the devices produced no thrust in a vacuum chamber.