Reply #2: Problems with link

[txlibdem]

Here is a better link: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/10/4863282-next-giant-leaps-for-nasa-tech

PS, VASIMIR is a good idea. They just need to get something more powerful to power it. A 200 kilowatt solar array is nice but if you're going to use it to go to the asteroids then its power gets less the farther away from the sun you get. A better answer is to use a megawatt nuclear reactor to power it. It would probably go faster that way anyway. More power equals higher specific thrust per kilogram of propellant. Win win. And you would have ample power left over for an electromagnetic shield to protect astronauts against the deadly effects of cosmic rays.