Comment:
I'd like to treat this as a serious idea. It may well be feasible, but it involves the government, which can screw up a free lunch. They've got technology that is over 50 years old, and they cannot get it off the ground in a reasonable amount of time and on a reasonable budget. I'm referring to the SLS. This is groundbreaking new tech, and I'd hate to think how they screw that up.
But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit. That fact is, a study done here by the government is going to have to be implemented by the government. There isn't anybody in the private sector that is going to be willing to undertake this venture, and that includes Elon Musk. He's got his chemical rockets, and they may be good enough to get to Mars. Why would he fool with this fusion thing? That leaves old Uncle Sam to do it, and I wouldn't count on them being able to walk and chew gum at the same time these days.
Nice dream you've got there, for that's all it will ever be. That is, until we get a government that actually works and can get results. Those days are over. Oh, by the way, we had a nuclear FISSION concept that was proven in the lab over 50 years ago. Obama gave that away to the Chinese, who are developing it. It is called Molten-salt reactors, and it can't melt down because it is already melted. Oh, and another thing--the NERVA rocket concept was FISSION and that was over 50 years ago too. It was ready to be bolted on to a Saturn V rocket, but noooooooooo.
Anyway, here's the video.