From: dre_ada5@hotmail.com   
      
   I was thinking recently what would be requirements of an ideal   
   interplanetary spacecraft capable of carrying humans around the solar system   
   within reasonable times (ie 1 week to 2 years) ignoring the costs of   
   development. I thought the following would be necessary:   
      
   Radiation protection   
      
   Artificial-gravity generation   
      
   Fuel/Food supplies/generation for up to 4 years   
      
   Adequate living space   
      
   Ship velocities of up 100km/s   
      
   100km/s Debris Impact Shield   
      
   In focusing on the velocity aspect and propulsion requirements I chose   
   100km/s because if you take a solar system map or NASA's solar system   
   simulator you can see at 100km/s you can get almost anywhere within the   
   times shown above and still have enough delta-V to break orbit from some of   
   the largest gas giants. I also concluded that in order for the ship achieve   
   these travel times it should achieve 100km/s within 1 day (24hrs).   
      
   This means for a ship of mass, 1000 tons, a force of 1160kN would be   
   required to produce an acceleration of 1.16m/s^2 at 0.12 gees. Is this   
   right?   
      
   Also what kind of propulsion system could achieve this? Thermo-nuclear?   
   Vasimr? Fusion?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)