[LibWhacker]

Now you're talking my language! I would LOVE that! I'd like to see a modern assessment of the radiation risk for the world's inhabitants, but Dyson et al. put the risk at a couple of cancer deaths per year worldwide for even a quite robust program. There is hardly any large project in the world nowadays, whatever the basic technology, that can do better than that, but that doesnt' deter us from doing those projects. What deterred us was the dirt worshipers.

Put those luddites to sleep and we could have a huge fleet of massive ships out there right now, exploring every nook and cranny of the solar system, providing us with unbeatable national security, and even making our way out into interstellar space.

[buccaneer81]

Excellent post!

44 years to Alpha Centauri using the original design. The British came up with some improvements in the '80s that would increase speed by 20%.