the first recorded thoughts about ion propulsion were by robert godard in 1906, the father of american rocketry. constantine kalkaski , known as the father of cos monautics published a paper on it. a colleague in the 1950s did very important work on ion propulsion. you're making the entirely accurate point that engineers at hughes aircraft and elsewhere did. it was worked on by people in nasa and private industry from the '50s up to the present. so, i mean, there's a rich history here of many very creative and talented people contributing to the development of it. and if i suggested that jpl was the organization that developed it or thought of it or was the only one that worked on it, i didn't mean to suggest that. i said when i raised the question of how could we travel around the solar system more easily and less expensively it was that we could turn to the ion propulsion that people, brilliant people have been working on for nearly a century. audience: now, was it -- it's very important to travel. why did jpl not follow it exactly exactly, and then with such a purpose. marc: i'd be happy to