re: Are there any potential "on the ground" uses for the technolog?
"In the meantime, would there be any uses for a VASIMR type engine to be built on the ground? If not, I'm afraid we'll have to wait another few decades."
Basic research is a big one. If an astrophysicist would like to get experimental data for a certain plasma at a certain temperature and magnetic field strength. Plasma processing would be another, possibly, for semiconductor applications. I dunno how it would stack up in terms of cost effectiveness to more conventional techniques, but it's a possibility I reccon.