The pusher-plate nuke ship was the Orion project. Projected speed is about .1c - WAY fast. Unfortunately Carter signed a treaty with the USSR that banned nukes in space and thus Orion. The excuse? We didn’t want nuclear armed satellite in orbit. The reality? Only the US had the industrial base to implement Orion, and the Soviets (and their rool Carter) didn’t want to see us reach Mars, other planets, and even the stars without them. Otherwise an exception for Orion could have easily been added.
rool = tool PIMF
Way off on my speed, was from eronious memory. Still lets see 10 light years divided by .1c = 100 years, Generational ship seems a posibility, but with a large enough number of people to allow controlled ie ‘limited’ procreation and a vibrant society to be maintained onboard.
The Soviet Union no longer exists so technically the treaty is null and void if we say so, correct?