The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket of Franklin Chang-Diaz

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17476-ion-engine-could-one-day-power-39day-trips-to-mars.html

*It'll get you to Mars in 39 days. Hey, 39 days to go freeze and jump around on Mars? If that's all it takes, some rich dot-com geezer is gonna do it.

*A variable specific-impulse magnetoplasma rocket. It's sure got a cool 21st century name. You gotta figure there'd be all kinds of Wernher Von Braun screamin'-out-of-the-sky spin-offs for most anything called "magnetoplasma."

*I'm putting this one