Project orion
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Transcript of Project orion
Project Orion
Project History
Basic Design• Basic Design– Containers of bomb/projectile
packages– Dropped one by one through
hole in pusher plate– Suspenstion system to cushion
pusher plate shock on rest of craft
– Ignition of bomb at fixed distance from pusher plate
Key Components
Maximum Carry Capacity
• Super-Orion – volume as large as 10 copies of Great Pyramid– 1 million metric tons• This is equivalent to 10 billion up to 100 kg people!• Several times the capacity of a the largest supertanker
• Scalable– 300 tons to 8 million tons
Some Capabilities
• A single Project Orion mission would have been sufficient to establish a large permanent moon base.
• Project Orion aimed for a manned mission to Mars by 1965.
• Project Orion aimed for a manned mission to Saturn by 1970.
• A ship powered by the Orion drive could have travelled to Pluto and back to Earth in less than a year.
• All components (except bombs) are reuseable• Could send entire cities to Mars
Objections
• Fallout– Est. as 10 unnecessary deaths per launch by
Freeman Dyson• Compare to deaths from fossil fuels, autos,
phamacological mishaps..
• EMP• Treaty Problems• Tee up or Toss
Unmanned Orion
• Acceleration bursts not a problem– No shock absorbers needed
• Up to 3.3% light speed• Perfect for killer comet or asteroid deflection