[ninty]

Thats why investment in new space shuttles are needed. The current space shuttles are so inefficient its not even funny. Burning fuel to escape earths gravity is a 20th century idea. Traveling at 6 miles per second isn't fast enough. We currently have technologies to make things more efficient and travel at 5,000 miles per second, which is 3% the speed of light. We can do this right now using Nuclear Fission. It is possible to get these Atomic Rockets up to 12% the speed of light. That is fast enough to travle to Alpha Centauri in 46 years. Currently it would take the Space Shuttle 120,000 years at its top speed. Going to Mars on one of these babies would be a snap.

Antimatter, Nuclear Fusion, Laser Sails, and Fusion Ramjets are all other posibilities, but the technologies have not yet been developed.