One thing I don't quite get is their claim that the rocket would need "just some solar panels" instead of a fuel tank when in the paragraph before that they talk about exhausting argon-based plasma.<p>If there is a propellant, you'd need to store that somewhere first, right? Does each particle of the propellant exit the rocket with much higher energy? Or can Argon be stored in a much denser form than other fuels?
"Such an engine design offers a couple of key benefits over most existing propulsion technology. Perhaps most notably, unlike chemical rockets, Vasimr operates on electricity. As it flies through space, therefore, it does not need massive fuel tanks or a huge reservoir of liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel. Instead, the rocket just needs some solar panels".<p>Sounds incredible. I wish him the best of luck.
FTA: <i>"And at a time when the national discourse assails the value of Spanish-speaking immigrants..."</i><p>What a load. Aside from the repellent need by the author to inject politics into a science story, it's flat-out <i>wrong</i>: the rancor isn't over people who (like Chang-Díaz) pursue <i>legal</i> citizenship or <i>legal</i> residency, nor is it over people who speak a particular language simply on the basis of that language.