Fuel-free space engines of the future

Don't they use one of those in a starwar movie or something, they open the sail and go away in the sunset... dang the sunset part was in Western.. wrong movie :devil:

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/images/newsitems/solarsail.jpg Space propulsion technologies previously limited to science fiction may soon be propelling real astronauts to the stars. Chemical rockets can only get us so far, in order to get us any further faster and more efficient forms of propulsion are going to be needed. Fortunately several possibilities are currently being researched."Interplanetary travel may soon be powered by propulsion systems lifted from sci-fi novels, as researchers reach for faster, lighter space engines." View: Full Article | Source: Popular Mechanics

Ah the Solar Sail? http://application.denofgeek.com/images/m/75spaceships/main/Geonesis_solar_sailor.jpg

I approve of the decision to cancel the Constellation all it was Saturn-5 divided in two Ares-1 and Ares-5. Come on it's been 40 years since Apollo and NASA should with something better. Anyway Jules Verne that rockets never were reliable that why used a cannon and H.G.Wells used anti-gravity for their moon novels. Interesting Thomas Townsend Brown from the 1920s to 1960s experments showed that control of gravity was possible unfortunitly the military took over and classified research,and since NASA reality part of the military it's fuction is keep space travel dangerous and expencive.

To slow way to slow shoot for the stars guys not 200,000mph like seriously where is that gonna get us? NOWHERE SPECIAL

im still holding out hope that NASA's funding, or lack thereof, will lead to privatization of american space travel. spring break on the moon! by 2030 (maybe, any bets?)

To slow way to slow shoot for the stars guys not 200,000mph like seriously where is that gonna get us? NOWHERE SPECIAL 200,000mph is nothing to scoff at, being that the system is costless once it has reached space. the idea of 'fuel free space engines' is to get us through space cheaply, not necessarily quickly. i, for one, would be more than happy with a cruising speed of 200,000mph. i could be 2 million miles away from 'davedini' by [earth]sunrise.

Why don't we stick some cameras in a passing comet? Get a good look around before we cross the road. Had we shot a couple cams into Haley's, we would have one heck of a set of photos when it gets back here 2061. Not like we are going to get an opportunity to see that much of space up close in that time frame.

I'm wondering where the Heck they got these numbers from?? A. Solar SailMax speed: 200,000 mph B. Ion Max speed: 220,000 mph C. Antimatter Max speed: 270,000 mph So the difference between no fuel and the best fuel (Antimatter) is only 70,000 mph? Speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per second. So, even with antimatter we will not get anywhere ever. A light year is about 5,878,630,000,000 miles (about 6 trillion miles). And it is 4.2421 lyr to Proxima Centauri. So, about 24,937,736,323,000 miles. That would be about 14234 years to get there on solar sail and 10544 years on antimatter. It seems... [More]

To slow way to slow shoot for the stars guys not 200,000mph like seriously where is that gonna get us? NOWHERE SPECIAL solar sails are thought to be one of the faster ways to travel in space right now for us.