I think they might have done - I'm sure it wasn't beyond their wit to have an imagination.

If they'd just hurry up and sort it we could have some hope of getting off this planet.

ha! good point!

9.8 m/s/s !? That's a fre-fall acceleration - astronauts would be permanently pinned down! Not to mention the enormous amount of energy it would take to maintain this acceleration on a spacecraft.

Ford has been producing good diesels in Europe for years. They own Volvo who engineered a superb 2.2 TDI engine that they put in their Mondeo - I have the same engine in my Jaguar estate. It's over 150PS and I regularly get over 50mpg. It's quiet and smooth with incredible torque - 400Nm at about 2500rpm. Ford have left it too late to produce the engines in North America as they can't afford to build a new engine plant. I think we'll see the demise of Ford soon unless they start behaving in a more agile and innovative way.