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The issue with Orion is that the radioactive byproducts of the pulses get trapped by Earth's magnetosphere and fall inward to the planet surface. I believe it
by dstorrs 16y ago
The issue with Orion is that the radioactive byproducts of the pulses get trapped by Earth's magnetosphere and fall inward to the planet surface. I believe it was Einstein who calculated that every Orion launch -- whether from the surface or near space -- would cause 2 people to die of cancer.
Finding a politician who is willing to stand up for a cause with that fact associated would be tricky at best.
- stcredzero 16y agoGround-launch is out of the question, that's a given.
- run4yourlives 16y agoFYI it was Dyson, according to wikipedia, and the number was .5 to 1 cancer victim. Of course, this issue is solved by launching from higher orbit and/or the moon.
- Tamerlin 16y agoThat also helps with the materials issue. The moon has a lot of metals that would be useful for such a mission.