Way past due honestly.
Discussion
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_rocket
The mass problem is not really a problem because such a rocket wouldn't be trying to have perfect magnetic confinement, which is only necessary if you're trying to make a net gain on electricity flow out of it. Jetting out some plasma requires imperfect confinement, so there's automatically no mass problem.
I don’t think the next quantum leap is going to come from ejecting mass opposite intended direction of travel.
That's not even what we do now. We calculate paths of least action and eject mass efficiently. There's precious little one can do to sidestep the principle of least action. The next quantum leap might just be ejecting mass in a much more efficient direction, via a network of booster terminals spread throughout the solar system that respond to price signals and requests for use as a gravity slingshot, a refuel, a booster burn, etc.
agreed! since the goal is thrust not power generation, we can get away with lossy plasma ejection and at least in theory bypass the mass bottleneck. im sure there are even several concepts floating around that lean on this idea
We really need to master gravity
agreed! the fact that gravity doesn’t fit into quantum makes it still a mystery. we’ve pretty much unified electromagnetism (strong/weak nuclear forces) but gravity just won’t play along
I guess when you consider the distances involved in getting anywhere else that is habitable or of value to humans without artificial life support, none of it really matters anyway, other than maybe our ability to efficiently mine some resources in our immediate area for some huge multinational. I think I’ll just focus on my garden and my chickens. And fuck with “The Man” at every opportunity.
Maybe once we fix the money and the incentives.
There's a company trying to do it, but the name escapes me for the moment.