About the Author

D.J. Barrow is a semi retired Linux Kernel Hacker & Physics enthuasist, his website is here

As I covered in my book, The Nerds Survival Guide out of print , Richard Feynmans idea of Atomic Jet or Scramjets which zip around orbiting in the thin upper Atmosphere, till they reach well beyond escape velocity, &, can spiral slingshot faster and faster in the thinner & thinner atmosphere trying not to melt from friction, to the Moon, Mars, & beyond, rather than using Rockets is a fantastic idea as no propellant is needed saving loads of weight. It might even still be able to accelerate in free Space if there is minute amount of Gas in the Vacuum of Space.My three enhancements are based on how technology has evolved are to use Drones ( already done ) ,we can't put Humans on them for the moment as the amount of Lead needed for the human Habitat to prevent radiation killing the Astronaut & Miners is damn heavy for a flying vehicle, an extended TCP/IP commodity Mobile Phone Network reaching to Mars to make communication cheaper using Stun & Turn & ICE servers like Facebook Messenger ( only needed because of Firewalls ) to communicate peer to peer, between, Drone and a Mobile Phone App or Computer, like Parrot may have developed at this stage to control a Drone Globally, &, using a Helium Balloon or Jet like Virgin Galactic to piggyback up the ScramJet Drone up 40 miles into the upper atmosphere so the radiation should be hopefully mitigated from the Atomic Engine, the engines then only has to be designed to work in the thin upper atmosphere and Mars. which should be quite similar.With advancements in AI, it should be quite possible to get these to mine the Mars rather than having a 15 minute delay or more for remote control signals to reach Mars. Obviously the engine will also have to work as a Rocket to take off from the Moon using where we could mine Helium 3 for future Fusion Reactors. What mining possibilitys are there on Mars, Elon?I suppose this technolology won't take off till we have over unity efficency fusion reactors, for, safety reasons :( another 40-50 years maybe as fusion reactor design is so hard owing to controlling temperatures of 150 Million Degrees celcius within Materials like Tungsten which can only withstand 3422 Degrees Celcius the highest melting point of any material available to Man.We should live in the Sahara Desert before Mars, its cheaper, & more, Human friendly, admittedly, some nutters will go to Mars possibly within my lifetime, whether they come back is another question.