I'm pretty intrigued by the whole concept of interstellar travel. I would prefer that such an undertaking be done by private companies, as there is more of an incentive to control costs and compete that way. Mostly what I care about though is how such a thing would be possible. I used to be really into engineering (before I learned that I am really, really bad at math) and I would dream up all sorts of sub-lightspeed propulsion systems that would get us wherever we wanted to go. Turns out they've all been tried or developed, so I wasn't breaking any new ground, but it was really fun all the same. Here's some thoughts.

ION propulsion: the idea here is that ionic discharge from oppositely charged plates creates an immense amount of thrust in zero-G, vacuum conditions (like in space). The problem is that the thrust is not violent enough to move an object from a standstill. It is great, though, at maintaining inertia. So if some sort of rocket system could get a craft up to about 50,000 mph, an ionic engine could theoretically popel it from there up over 100,000 mph. At least that's the theory as I recall it from some documentary I watched on it years ago. In star wars, the TIE fighters use ion engines (TIE meaning "twin ion engine") so obviously this idea has been around forever. Even Lucas, that dolt, knew about this stuff.

Solar sails are really neat. You hit that one already so I won't.

I think the most intriguing possibilty is things like wormholes or "jumpgates." The idea that space isn't linear, but some sort of convoluted wave pattern that is interconnected by various tunnels and gates that allow interstellar travel to distant locations in a fraction of the time as would be required to go from A to B in a straight line. I've heard some theories that even on earth there is some sort of tunnel that connects the Bermuda Triangle to another "dead zone" in the Pacific Ocean just like it. There's no real evidence for this sort of thing but it's such an amazing idea that travel could be possible in another dimension, like the 4th dimension or something.

This post is very scattered, and I apologize, but I'm really tired and just basically word-vomiting at this point. I think it would be really cool to discover this sort of thing, though, and start investigating the reaches of the universe, to say nothing of just our solar system. Although there are still some really near things waiting in our own backyard for discovery. Space is such an amazing place. I would love to learn all about it. But I'm scared of heights so I suspect I will never go there even if it becomes affordable and routine. I won't even fly on an airplane. Until I figure out Superman-like flight, I guess I'm stuck on earth.

I'll come up with some other discussion topic this weekend. I need to recoupe for a couple days. This week has been brutal. Later.

Cory