I think we might want to take a look at H.G. Well’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, written in the late 19th century. At the time he penned the original manuscript most ships were powered by sails, a few carried auxiliary steam engines. Yet he reasoned, if one could find a way to boil water without burning coal, you might be able to build a closed system steam engine. With this a true submarine would be possible. At that time no one had ever heard of nuclear power.
The basic assumption made by Wells, was made by Larson, Roddenberry and virtually every Sci-fi writer that has put pen to paper or stroked a keyboard.
Who is to say in the next century an efficient method of moving people and cargoes between the stars won’t be found.
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