Interstellar travel is possible with the right engine and the right amount of fuel. For a starship to work and perform correctly it needs a huge amount of fuel to reach the nearest star system. Thanks to Robert W. Bussard, we have the theory of a Ramjet Fusion engine. Now this is an engine that as it travels it has a scooper that collects hydrogen and converts it to energy that propels the ship. In this case the ship would not have a payload of fuel to carry. “Of course, this is a moot point, as the fusion engine at the heart of the ship hasn’t even got to the back of the envelope stage of development and if it ever does prove worth building we’re talking engineering on a planetary scale”(Zondy1). So the engine is far from being built, but starships are indeed coming.

Starships have always been thought about as being impossible, but yet we still see references to them every day. A Ramjet Fusion engine sounds like a very good way of traveling the universe. Hydrogen as a fuel source seems very plausible, especially when most of the universe is made of hydrogen. The Hydrogen scooper is an excellent way of fueling the ship, but only 1% of the molecule can be used so we would require a scooper that was hundreds of miles wide to obtain the amount needed. All in all this engine, with the proper refinements in the coming years, would in fact be the key to interstellar travel.

WORKS CITED: Zondy, David. "Bussard Ramjet Fusion Engine." (2009): 1. Web. 8 Apr 2010. .