New Steam Engine Design for In-Space Travel

An interesting report at space.com on a design for an electro-thermal engine making steam to thrust the ship forward (it goes out nozzels on the back of the spaceship). It would be powered with water.

Hopefully the water would not be taken from Mars, or the Moon (ice) where it is a finite resource. If space ships must use water, it should be taken from comets or other ice beyond Pluto (and they should not use Pluto for fuel).

Its an interesting idea, yet somewhat backwards. Earth is where water should be used for fuel, and space use ions or photons, dirt or electro-magnetic fields or some substance such as methane or hydrogen possibly from one of the moons of Saturn or jupiter.

http://www.space.com/11230-water-powered-spaceship-mars-solar-system.html

http://www.space.com/10416-space-engines-generation.html video