Current rockets use solid or liquid chemical propulsion, some of our current space probes use Ion engines - so did Darth Vader. Star Trek has Impulse and Warp drive, and the first Motie contacted used light sails.
You can find an interesting overview of spaceflight proplusion concepts here.
Posted by Ted at October 5, 2003 08:52 PM | TrackBackTed, pick up a copy of the Nov 2003 issue of Discover magazine (cover story: "How Long Can The Human Body Last?"). It has an inteview with Dr. Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan, which discusses the Cosmos 1 solar sail spacecraft. BTW, at the end of the interview, it says an extended version of the interview is on discover.com but I can't find it to save my life.
Posted by: Victor at October 6, 2003 09:33 PM