Feasibility study of a mission to Sedna – Nuclear propulsion and solar sailing

> Sedna is expected to pass through the perihelion of its orbit in 2075--2076 and then move again away from the Sun. Considering the distances involved, a mission targeting the object would need to be launched "relatively" soon, especially if using conventional propulsion systems, which could require up to 30 years of deep-space travel.

Sedna's perihelion is ~76 AU - more than twice as far as Pluto, which took New Horizons nearly a decade to reach.

Sedna's apehelion is over 500 AU.

> The Direct Fusion Drive rocket engine is under development at Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory

Is it ... is it actually working? How close are they? And even if they get it to work next year, will it be something well-engineered & reliable enough to send it into space for 10 years and expect it to work?

It was ~15 years between the V-2 rocket crossing the Karman line to a human walking on the moon. 15 years from now we will have time for a 10 year break followed by another 15 years before we'd need to launch such a 10 year mission to be there by 2075-2076.

The real question "is there actually fund this engine and mission to bring that to completion in the next 40 years" than whatever the completion and reliability is today.