[Spaceships] Getting A Few Thousand Extra MPS

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by hal

But, what if you can use a two stage rocket to accelerate towards the sun, separate at 40,000 km above the sun, and then use a mag sail away from the surface of the sun? The single stage vessel after separation would have 1/3 rd the original mass, gain free acceleration via mag sail, and perhaps gain more than the original +10 k/s boost given in Robert Zubrin's scenario?

Unfortunately, in this scenario you're actually moving faster than the solar wind for a significant chunk of your trip, making magsails counterproductive.