Editing Robert L. Forward (section)

===Career and research===
He then went to work at the research labs of [[Hughes Aircraft]], where he continued his research on gravity measurement and received 18 [[patent]]s. He took early retirement in 1987, to focus on his fiction writing and consulting for such clients as [[NASA]] and the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]]. In 1994, he co-founded the company [[Tethers Unlimited, Inc.]] with [[Robert P. Hoyt]], where he served as chief scientist and chairman until 2002.

Much of his research focused on the leading edges of speculative physics but was always grounded in what he believed humans could accomplish. He worked on such projects as [[space tether]]s<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Forward |first1=Robert |last2=Conley |first2=Buford |last3=Stanek |first3=Clay |last4=Ramsey |first4=William |title=28th Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit |date=1992-07-06 |chapter=The cable catapult - Putting it there and keeping it there |chapter-url=https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.1992-3077 |language=en |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |doi=10.2514/6.1992-3077}}</ref> and [[space fountain]]s, [[solar sail]]s (including [[Starwisp]]), [[antimatter propulsion]], and other [[spacecraft propulsion]] technologies, and did further research on more esoteric possibilities such as [[time travel]] and [[negative matter]].  He was issued a patent for the [[statite]], and contributed to a concept to [[HiVolt#Proposed removal|drain the Van Allen Belts]].

====Forward Mass Detector====
Forward's extensive work in the field of [[gravitational wave]] detection included the invention of the rotating cruciform [[gravity gradiometer]] or 'Forward Mass Detector', for Lunar [[Mass concentration (astronomy)|Mascon]] (mass concentration) measurements. The gravity gradiometer is described in the well-known textbook ''[[Gravitation (book)|Gravitation]]'' by Misner, Thorne & Wheeler. The principle behind it is quite simple; getting the implementation right is tricky.  Essentially, two beams are crossed over and connected with an axle through their crossing point.  They are held at right angles to each other by springs.  They have heavy masses at the ends of the beams, and the whole assembly spun around the common axle at high speed.  The angle between the beams is measured continuously, and if it varies with a period half that of the rotation period, it means that the detector is experiencing a measurable gravitational field gradient.

====Vacuum Fluctuation Battery====
In 1984, Forward published his theoretical design for a "Casimir battery", utilizing the electromagnetic [[Zero-point energy]] and the attractive force associated. The Casimir force would pull the plates together, if the plates were charged with same polarity and the electrostatic force applied to the plates is adjusted. The Casimir force will pull the plates together increasing the electric field between each plate and producing a voltage. The battery could be "recharged" by increasing the electrostatic force, pushing the plates apart.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forward |first1=Robert L. |title=Extracting electrical energy from the vacuum by cohesion of charged foliated conductors |journal=Physical Review B |date=15 August 1984 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=1700–1702 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevB.30.1700 |bibcode=1984PhRvB..30.1700F |url=https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.30.1700}}</ref>