5 ms·
More details and sketches of potential designs: https://newatlas.com/orion-project-atom-bomb-spaceship/49454/ https://newatlas.com/orion-project-atom-bomb-space
by alex_young 5y ago
More details and sketches of potential designs: https://newatlas.com/orion-project-atom-bomb-spaceship/49454/ https://newatlas.com/orion-project-atom-bomb-spaceship/49454...
One thing I'm sure I don't understand: from a material science perspective, how would you produce shock absorbers capable of repeated and sustained shockwaves at 100 second intervals from h-bombs? It seems like any material you select, as exotic as it may be, will degrade pretty quickly. Doesn't seem like 200 years will solve this problem.
- kragen 5y agoLiquids aren't degraded by shockwaves, but the pusher plates were always intended to be ablative. If they start developing cracks I guess you can melt them down and recast them.
- themadturk 5y agoIt was discovered at some point that a thin film of oil would protect the explosion-facing side of the plate. There was something about the skin oils of a fingerprint leading to that discovery, but I don’t remember details.
- kragen 5y agoProbably from ablation, though, not from shock or radiation damage?