Yep, I saw it! I'd like to see what powerful magnetic fields can do to physics myself. I've heard that they have successfully levitated a mouse using intense magnetic fields without harming it.
Irish, the Bussard Ramjet would also depend on intense and far-reaching magnetic fields, so this research could be cross-fertilizing.
I doubt that such ramjets could be used in-system, the hope was always that enough Hydrogen could be scooped up between the stars to fuel the star-drive.
Efficiency is a question, though. That and the proper fuel mix. Most physicists feel that Tritium will be needed for sustained fusion.
I doubt that the typical picture of a Bussard Ramjet would be able to go very fast. It might be able to proceed indefinitely without refueling, but at a cost of going at only a lower fraction of the speed of light. That thus makes it a multi-generation ship.
At least it would permit stellar migration, which is the only insurance program for the human race with a certain feedback.
All of us have hopes for super-luminal speed, but in the meantime, we should still keep plodding along.
Ok so we seem to need to find an energy source. How about fusion as opposed to fission? Any way to power WITHOUT gobs and gobs of reactor mass?
Or we could reverse engineer O.J.'s white Bronco.
The Bussard is just another hypothetical form of propulsion - like solar sail been driven by a maser.
Anyway, I'm going looking for the Mars thread....