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He 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) h
by necubi 12y ago
He 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!.)