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Originally posted by debaser
Ion drives do exist. They simply ionize a gas plasma which propels the ship forward as the charged particles are accelerated away from the ship. I think they have gotten a whopping 2.5 lbs. of thrust from them (but it is very efficient).
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Ah I see, so it is just like ordinary jet propulsion. how boring
Whats so great about them? simply the extra efficiecy of being able to
direct the expended particles, rather than just relying on the random movements of gas particles? (Which would be propelled away at angles, "wasting" much of their momenteum)
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As I understand the idea of folding space, you can actually arrive at your destination before your light beam, there is no reason you couldn't, you have not surpassed the speed of light, you are just appearing at your destination.
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I suppose so, but in that case we could send a "signal" faster than the speed of light. The limit of light speed applies, not only to physical things, but also to the propagation of any signal. In other words somthing can't "affect" another thing in a time less than the time it takes a beam of light to get there. But again, it could be that the limit only applies to a propagation in three dimensional space, but it still messes things up alot!
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The real conundrum comes when you enter the fold at near relativistic speeds, and the destination point is in your approach path. It is possible to time it just right so that you hit yourself, thus preventing your entry in the first place. If that doesn't make your head hurt, I don't know what will... 
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I don't get what you are saying. Are you trying to say that you would travel back in time? How would that happen?