🚀 go-pugleaf

I recently saw a couple of pictures of the proposed Thousand Astronomical Units
probe in a book by Nicholas Booth. The craft itself looks like an enlargened
Cassini/Mariner mk.II, with a huge antenna dish [diameter of approx. 15 
meters], an optical laser system for communications, an 1.5-meter telescope 
for carrying out measurements of radial velocities for nearby stars(?) and the 
customary particle and fields experiments equipment.
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The second part, the ion engine, wasn't really dealt with in the text so I'd
appreaciate it someone could fill in the details. It's basically a long
cylinder with a small nuclear reactor in the rear end powering the engine. The
ion drive will accelerate the propellant [metals like Mercury or Cesium?] to
velocities of up to 70km/s and will fire continuously for ten years. After
that, the two parts would separate and the engine section would act as a relay
station between the probe itself and Earth. The spacecraft will reach  a
velocity of 100 km/s and a distance of 1000 AU (0.002 light-years)
in only fifty years. In addition, a Pluto orbiter could be released as the
probe leaves the solar system.
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How would the probe be launched? It appears to be far too big and heavy to fit
inside a standard rocket booster. Will they use the shuttle for this, and will
the ion engine be used for accelerating the probe out of Earth orbit as well?
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory came up with the mission plan. Perhaps Ron Baalke can
shed some light on this?

MARCU$

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Marcus Lindroos                             Internet:     mlindroos@abo.fi
Computer Science
Abo Akademi University
Finland