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Reminds me of that Neal Stephenson book, Anathema, that had a space ship that was propelled by setting off nuclear bombs just outside its hull.
by acadien 12y ago
Reminds me of that Neal Stephenson book, Anathema, that had a space ship that was propelled by setting off nuclear bombs just outside its hull.
- necubi 12y agoHe didn't make that up. As crazy as it sounds, NASA considered exactly that idea in the 1950s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsi....
- digi_owl 12y agoWell it was the 50s. Both sides of the cold war tried to come up with various uses of nuclear power. From civilian cars to military strategic bombers. Never mind using nukes to dig harbors... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chariot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chariot And would it surprise anyone that a champion of this project was Edward Teller?
- lutorm 12y agoDon't disparage the idea. It's by far the most efficient high-thrust rocket engine we could build with any technology we know exist.
- roywiggins 12y agoMy favorite is Project Pluto: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto Which is nuclear ramjet, which has the small side-effect of spewing large amounts of radiation as it flies.
- pavel_lishin 12y agoYou mean, a convenient feature. For everyone who's scrolling through this thinking, "Hey, this is pretty morbid," you ought to read http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm which kicks that feeling up to 11.
- arethuza 12y agoPluto missiles also appear in Missile Gap, also by Charlie Stross - ballistic missiles have stopped working for quite an interesting reason.... NB A Colder War also gives me the creeps - largely for the point about what certain entities actually do with the souls they eat...
- pavel_lishin 12y agoI know exactly which line you're talking about, and it's probably one of my favorite lines in literature.
- digi_owl 12y agoI swear there is something in the water on the British Isles...
- btilly 12y agoThere were some crazy conventional technologies also. One scientist, as a joke, did a calculation about the effects of adding mercury to rocket fuel. It wouldn't react with the fuel, but it would add a lot of weight which would make the thrust more efficiently move the rocket forward. This was tested, found to be true, and thankfully never put to use in any actual rockets. (For confirmation, track down Ignition!.)
- CurtMonash 12y agoNiven & Pournelle's Footfall also had an Orion-type ship. It was a desperation tactic on the part of the overmatched Earthlings, but it worked.
- antimagic 12y agoIf I remember currectly, the Fthip dropships used a similar (but cleaner) pulse technology. They even claimed to have taught us the trick...
- marktangotango 12y agoHa! Great reference, iirc the humans put a pusher plate under a battle ship (uss missouri?), launched into orbit and pummeled the aliens. I also recall something about fighter craft and 16 inch cannons. Great read.
- CurtMonash 12y agoI recall mainly the jury-rigged pipes that a character based on one of Niven/Pournelle's friends kept working at the cost of his own heroic death. Apparently they asked him what the fate of his character should be, and he picked death. Based on physical appearance, he surely was also the prototype for the question-asker in "What Can You Say About Chocolate-Covered Manhole Covers?" That basically obscure story was big in my life because it's one of the things that introduced me to Roger Zelazny (it referenced his Agnostic's Prayer).