Not the biggest problem in science fiction

Canterbury doing a flip and burn, courtesy of NBC Universal's "The Expanse."

I am a huge fan of "The Expanse," the SyFy TV show based on the book series of the same name by James S.A. Corey (who is actually two people!). I am not alone. So is Rafi Letzter at The Business Insider, who wrote a fun piece entitled This amazing sci-fi show reveals the biggest problem everyone ignores about space travel.

Here's the thing, though: it really doesn't. The point of the piece is that high-g acceleration is brutal and that there's no good way to travel across space without it. This, apparently, is "the problem."

But it's not a problem at all. And it's certainly not the biggest problem. Kudos to "The Expanse" for not ignoring the physics of acceleration, but what they don't tell you (and can't) is how the engine producing all that acceleration (and the pretty blue lights) actually works. THAT, gentle Reader, is the biggest problem in space travel: propulsion. What kind of engine design can move us from giant fireworks to an everyday motor that can move us about the solar system as easily as we presently sail across the oceans? Crack that, and the SF visions of the future we authors have been dreaming about for eternity might finally come to pass.

And it needn't be high-g, either. So long as you can keep accelerating, you can pretty much go as fast as you like. Assuming you could somehow blindside Einstein and find the energy, 1g of acceleration (an equivalent force to standing here on Earth) would get you up to light speed in about a year. Forget Mars, you could go interstellar at that sort of speed, and all without smearing yourself into a gooey paste against the bulkhead.

So c'mon engineers. Sort this out already. I'm getting old here!