One additional booster method that's been a staple of science fiction stories, has been the use of ground-based lasers to propel a spacecraft outside the atmosphere.
Yep, but the only way to develop a sustained power source capable of providing this powerful of a laser is, you guessed it, Nuclear power.
32 posted on 09/23/2005 4:27:33 PM PDT by tricky_k_1972
(Putting on Tinfoil hat and heading for the bomb shelter.)