"It would take on the order of 80,000 years to get to the nearest star at the escape velocity of our solar system."


If one assumes a constant 1 g acceleration ( Bussard Ramjet, well withing today's design margins ( Article in 1970's about how to turn aa metalic asteroid into one, using 1970's tech, but NOT cheap) one can get to the nearest star in about 10 years, I think ( turnaround at halfway point, 4.5 LY distance, time dilation for crew at higher speeds) Why would one stay at the escape velocity???