Well given that the article mentioned distances like 15 light years its obvious that we're not going to reach a planet that far away with our current level of tech.
And the answer doesnt seem to be bigger and more powerfull rockets.
I wonder if at some time in the future it might be possibe to manipulate electomagnetic fields in open areas of space effectively creating a massive tube of electromagnetism. These fields could be designed to send a vehicle generating an opposite charged field down the length of the tube as the two fields repel each other.
I'm not sure such a thing is even possible, but think about how many things we have today that would have been called impossible just 50 years ago.

Im not sure what kinds of speeds could be reached using the tubular field idea but we need to reach pretty incredible speeds to travel as far as 15 light years.
The other option is to send a self-contained ship/colony of pioneers off on a several hundred year ride to the distant planet, but when the ship arrives the people aboard are tecnically not even earthlings since they would be the great-great-great-great-grandchildren of the colonizers who originaly left earth.

I'm real stoned so this is fun to think about.