Preprint of NASA Gravity Shielding Paper
Peter L. Skeggs
A paper, to appear in an August 1997 issue of Physica C:
Superconductivity, describing the preliminary results of NASA Marshall
Space Flight Center's and University of Alabama Huntsville's attempt to
reproduce Podkletnov's gravity shielding experiment, is available online
at:
http://www.inetarena.com/~noetic/pls/msfcuah1.html
This paper describes their experiments with a levitating but
non-rotating 4" YBCO superconducting disk as well as a fixed array of 48
1" YBCO hexagons (large enough to cover the entire surface area of the
gravimeter). The superconductors were stimulated in separate tests with
either a DC magnetic field or an AC magnetic field (since Podkletnov
reported some effect with DC fields but greater with AC).
A highly sensitive gravimeter was suspended above the superconductor
under test. After factoring out all other items which affected the
gravimeter (the open container of liquid nitrogen, magnetic fields,
etc.), no shielding greater than 2 parts in 10^8 of normal gravitational
acceleration were detected.
The group will continue with the main goal of the experiments: a full
reproduction of Podkletnov's experiment, using a rotating 12" disk.
Complete information about the Podkletnov effect is available at the
main page at:
http://www.inetarena.com/~noetic/pls/gravity.html
-Pete Skeggs
plsk...@inetarena.com
Edward Meisner
Peter L. Skeggs wrote:
>
> A paper, to appear in an August 1997 issue of Physica C:
> Superconductivity, describing the preliminary results of NASA Marshall
> Space Flight Center's and University of Alabama Huntsville's attempt to
> reproduce Podkletnov's gravity shielding experiment, is available online
> at:
> http://www.inetarena.com/~noetic/pls/msfcuah1.html
>
> This paper describes their experiments with a levitating but
> non-rotating 4" YBCO superconducting disk as well as a fixed array of 48
> 1" YBCO hexagons (large enough to cover the entire surface area of the
> gravimeter).
> under test. After factoring out all other items which affected the
> gravimeter (the open container of liquid nitrogen, magnetic fields,
> etc.), no shielding greater than 2 parts in 10^8 of normal gravitational
> acceleration were detected.
>
experiment. Is it really the case that the experimenters placed a plate
of iron below the gravimeter to shield it from magnetic effects? Doesn't
this vitiate the entire point of the experiment? If it is the magnetic
field of the superconductor that is altering the gravitational field,
then how can the gravimeter register any change in weigth, if the iron
plate has canceled the magnetic field? If this is the case, then the
logic of this experiment escapes me.
Peter L. Skeggs
Edward Meisner wrote:
> Peter L. Skeggs wrote:
> >
> > A paper, to appear in an August 1997 issue of Physica C: [snip]
> > http://www.inetarena.com/~noetic/pls/msfcuah1.html
> >[snip]
> I read the preprint and am puzzled about the procedure of this
>
> experiment. Is it really the case that the experimenters placed a
> plate
> of iron below the gravimeter to shield it from magnetic effects?
> Doesn't
> this vitiate the entire point of the experiment? If it is the magnetic
>
> field of the superconductor that is altering the gravitational field,
> then how can the gravimeter register any change in weigth, if the iron
>
> plate has canceled the magnetic field? If this is the case, then the
> logic of this experiment escapes me.
They are trying to verify Podkletnov's claim that the superconductor,
exposed to a magnetic field, shields the gravitational force from
objects above the superconductor. Podkletnov conjectured essentially
that the magnetic field somehow stimulated the superconductor to enter
into a state which would result in the shielding of gravity.
Podkletnov did not claim that the magnetic field of the superconductor
caused the effect; he claimed the superconductor shielded gravity as a
result of rotating and being exposed to a high frequency magnetic
field. He also claimed to see a smaller degree of shielding even when
the disk was not rotating. It is this "static" condition that NASA was
looking for here.
The NASA experimenters used the iron plate to shield the gravimeter from
the magnetic fields because it did have a measurable effect on the
gravimeter, and also because Podkletnov was claiming that the magnetic
field itself had little or no effect on the sample under test; instead,
this unknown energy state within the superconductor (caused by an
externally applied magnetic field) itself leads to gravitational
shielding.
In other words, the magnetic field is (Podkletnov claims) simply a
catalyst and so can be shielded ABOVE the superconductor without
eliminating the gravitational shielding, since the magnetic field is
applied from below the superconductor.
-Pete Skeggs