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Check out Hardtack Teak. It was an exo-atmospheric nuclear test above Johnston Atoll. The blast was visible from Honolulu and a large glowing red cloud drifted
by jacobwilliamroy 6y ago
Check out Hardtack Teak. It was an exo-atmospheric nuclear test above Johnston Atoll. The blast was visible from Honolulu and a large glowing red cloud drifted over the island chain all the way from Johnston Atoll. There are areas of the zone underneath the explosion which are still hot to this day. And that was just one of the tests that went right. There were plenty of failures too, both in atmosphere and on the launchpad, which spread nuclear material and toxic fuel all over the place. High-altitude nuclear explosions are definitely a threat to humanity, no doubt about it.
- m4rtink 6y agoWell, you don't necessarily need to launch from Earth - starting an Orion mission from say high lunar orbit should be perfectly safe.
- prox 6y agoI think for Nuclear Propulsion we do need to start building in Space or on the Lunar Surface. Another interesting idea is to propel micro crafts with lasers. I think there was an article on HN about that.
- mkl 6y agoMicro craft with light sails propelled by lasers have been discussed quite a bit. My favourite instance of it is in Charlie Stross's novel Accelerando.
- jacobwilliamroy 6y agoMaybe. Personally, I would want to see A LOT of math and paperwork first before I listen to anyone who uses "perfectly safe" and "nuclear explosion" in the same sentence. I'm still hoping we can figure out some other form of space travel which doesn't involve really, really, really big explosions.
- m4rtink 6y agoNuclear Salt Water Rocket rides on one smaller continual nuclear explosion: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_salt-water_rocket https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_salt-water_rocket
- Hnrobert42 6y agoAt risk of contaminating future lunar bases.
- secondcoming 6y agoI'm pretty sure the moon is already being bombarded with all sorts of nasty radiation.
- Hnrobert42 6y agoHa. Excellent point. I would guess that radioactive particles on the surface would be different that radioactive bombardment from space. You could shield your shelter from space, but if the soil had radioactive particles in it, then you couldn’t bring it in your shelter. For that matter, you would also have to shield the floor, or at least remove a layer of soil. You might have to do that anyway to build a foundation. If it isn’t obvious, I don’t know what I am talking about.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]