Submission + - spacecraft that ride magnetic fields
Maggie McKee writes: "Future spacecraft may surf the magnetic fields of Earth and other planets, taking previously unfeasible routes around the solar system, according to a proposal funded by NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts. The electrically charged craft would not need rockets or propellant of any kind.
To get charged up, the spacecraft could either fire a beam of charged particles into space or simply allow a radioactive isotope to emit charged particles. Because long thin filaments have large surface areas for holding charge, the spacecraft might look like Einstein's head — with wiry filaments sticking out from all angles — or a weird space 'stocking'."
