I realise that the topic was initially about the amount of space 'out there' rather than the means of traversing it, but from the above posts, "Freeman Dyson" springs to mind.
From
http://www.astrobio.net/news/article556.html"Going to another star is a terribly powerful idea, just as going to the Moon was originally. At some point in human history, there will be a leap across the great void not just to the nearest star but to any star that might be interesting to explore."
Those are not the words of an uneducated and idle optimist. That's Nobel prize-winner Freeman Dyson speaking. - the same Freeman Dyson who once worked alongside that other brilliant Nobel prize-winner Richard Feynman. This is interesting reading:
From
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/D/DysonF.html"I started out reading science fiction and then became a scientist, and that set the slant on my scientific work"
"Wells's "First Men in the Moon" and "Stapledon's Last and First Men" and "Star Maker", Dyson recalls as being especially influential."
- I second that!
And people are working on interstellar space drives with a serious intent to prepare the ground for possible future physics...
From
http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/index.php?page=findlife03"...NASA have launched a Breakthrough Propulsion Physics (BPP) research group aimed at investigating 'alternative' methods of travel that could go faster than the speed of light through scientifically controversial methods such as 'superluminal quantum tunnelling' and the use of zero-point energy."
From
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/1997-J_AIAA_SpaceDr.pdf"A NASA precedent for systematically seeking revolutionary capabilities is the Horizon Mission Methodology. This method forces paradigm shifts beyond extrapolations of existing technologies by using impossible hypothetical mission goals to solicit new solutions. By setting impossible goals, the common practice of limiting visions to extrapolations of existing solutions is prevented. This method forces one to look beyond existing methods and specify the technologies and sciences that are genuinely needed to solve the problem, whether the solutions exist yet or not.
The theme of the Horizon Mission Methodology is followed here. The impossible goal targeted in this exercise is to create a space drive. In the spirit of the Horizon Methodology. the envisioned propulsion methods can entertain the possibility of physics yet to be discovered. However, to ensure that the envisioned methods are consistent with firmly established physics, the analysis imposes the constraints of conservation of momentum and energy, and requires that observed natural phenomena are not contradicted. From imposing these constraints, the characteristics needed to make space drives plausible can be identified.
Seven different hypothetical propulsion concepts were created for this exercise..."
This might be of particular interest you Mike (Mike Kramer), with regard to your recent post mentioning the casimir effect -
http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/reports/2004/CR-2004-213311.pdf"Study of Vacuum Energy Physics for Breakthrough Propulsion..."
Today's 'out-of-the-box' scientists are converting yesterday's science-fiction into tomorrow's science-fact.
