Some good SF has some similar roots...

One example that I like is Charles Stross' Laundry series, which starts with this story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atrocity_Archives

Along the lines of this classic by Larry Niven... http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html

Absolutely. I read it when I was in my early teens, and it left a mark.

I like the idea of laser propulsion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_propulsion/. For example, how about the Heat Exchanger (HX) variant, where your rocket is just a big water tank with a nozzle on the bottom and a payload on top. You shine ground based lasers on the water tank (or dedicated heat exchanger) and the water heats up, squirts out the bottom, and you're off to the races.

It's nice because you leave all the complicated stuff on the ground, and if you use many lasers in parallel, an individual failure or two won't scratch the launch.

I am reminded of what I believe to be an old Chinese proverb: "Man who say it cannot be done should not get in way of man doing it."

Speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per second, not km per second.

I just read this before Christmas and I agree, it's a skillfully done blend of alternate history, ancient terrors, and freaky tech.

Sometimes aircraft just run out of fuel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

The short story is "The Feeling of Power" by Asimov.