Hyperdrives are here says The New Scientist (well, sort of)

[PMC]

Are the days of massive rockets being required to put comparatively small loads into space numbered?  An intrigueing paper based on the work of an obscure scientist may offer the holy grail of space travel - the ability to accelerate an object beyond the speed of light safely using anti-gravity technology.

"Dröscher is hazy about the details, but he suggests that a spacecraft... could be propelled into a multidimensional hyperspace. Here the constants of nature could be different, and even the speed of light could be several times faster than we experience. If this happens, it would be possible to reach Mars in less than 3 hours and a star 11 light years away in only 80 days.."

Full link here:

http://www.newscientistspace.com/channel/space-tech/mg18925331.200

[PMC]

Yep, we'll be sending our astronauts to the stars equipped with anologue watches and the all important abacus for all those tricky calculations...

However, I'm sure ET would be just as impressed with all those Intel 8086 processors and late 70's tech that are responsible for managing the shuttle.

 :lol:

[PMC]

Haha!

A couple of years ago NASA officials were reportedly worried that they would not be able to obtain replacement chips for the shuttle computers, which were designed in the 70s.  

Rumour has it that they even resorted to Ebay to find old 8086 chips to replace the knackered ones in their ground based simulators.

[PMC]

Good point, how do you go about stepping into another dimension where the speed of light is much faster and then step back into your own once you've got to your destination?

Perhaps Blob would explain this one (please type slowly in words of one syllable..)