<story><title>Astronomers discover super-Earth around Barnard&apos;s star</title><url>https://phys.org/news/2018-11-astronomers-super-earth-barnard-star.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Topgamer7</author><text>It would only take ~50 years to reach Barnard&amp;#x27;s star with a theoretical fusion engine according to a research study named Project Daedalus. Someone shoot a probe at the planet and maybe our kids can see some cool imagery!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cultus</author><text>I think fission fragment rockets might be more promising. Doable with current tech, they can have exhaust velocities of a few percent the speed of light (specific impulse in the 6 figures), comparable or better than fusion engines.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Fission-fragment_rocket&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Fission-fragment_rocket&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Astronomers discover super-Earth around Barnard&apos;s star</title><url>https://phys.org/news/2018-11-astronomers-super-earth-barnard-star.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Topgamer7</author><text>It would only take ~50 years to reach Barnard&amp;#x27;s star with a theoretical fusion engine according to a research study named Project Daedalus. Someone shoot a probe at the planet and maybe our kids can see some cool imagery!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rbanffy</author><text>With 100 tons of propellant and the best imaginable VASIMR engine we could send a 10 ton payload (mostly nuclear reactor) there in...&lt;p&gt;2600 years.&lt;p&gt;We need better engines. A Daedalus-class fusion drive would be a great option, but first we&amp;#x27;d need to develop it.</text></comment>