starship-design: Propulsion ideas

[kyle <stk@sunherald.infi.net>]

Greetings:

I saw the threads about solar sail ships, and found them interesting.
One thought: wouldn't it be more efficient to use an onboard laser, and
shoot it out the back for thrust? The problem: Need energy (and lots of
it) to run that kind of laser. Is this really a problem? No. Use ZPE
lasers. The ZPE could provide the energy, which in turn is converted
into a laser beam, and shot out the back for propulsion. And if I
remember correctly, there was general support for ZPE in mid-june.

One other idea: If ZPE cannot be easily turned into useful energy, it
can still be used for propulsion. How? ZPE sails! And this WAS looked
into by nasa and deemed quite possible. Any ideas?

Kyle Mcallister

"The secrets of flight will not be mastered within our lifetime...not
within a thousand years."	
	--Wilbur Wright, 1901