Cost vs. Benefit

[dougthealmighty]

Chris Ferenzi sent me an article about Project Orion. I was completely unaware of its existence, and I find it extremely intriguing. I'm still reading the Wikipedia entry.

Basically, Orion is a spacecraft that uses nuclear explosions as propulsion. I'm not talking about another space shuttle, either. I'm talking thousands of tons. Maybe even

Comments

Yes!

[anonymous]

That was a great article, and your summary of it was even better. The coal statistic is the most amazing part. The Saturn V, during the peak of Apollo, could at max only deliver about 125 tons to orbit. One-hundred and twenty-five. Even having the ability to launch 8,000 tons with an Orion ship, that's one and a half orders of magnitude more. This design will never be acually used. Just think of how many anti-nuclear activists protested for the launch of Cassini and the New Horizons Pluto mission, both nuclear powered. Who knew, non-militaristic uses of nuclear explosives is not worthy enough.

These, however, are non-radioactive and QUITE ridiculous. It's called the Nova, a possible sucessor to the Saturn 5. Pay careful attention to the relative size illustrations. 600 tons to orbit.

http://www.astronautix.com/lvfam/nova.htm

Chris

[kgbkuz]

Chris,

When you said that non-militaristic uses of nuclear explosions are not worthy enough you obviously forgot their incredible important use of restarting the Earth's core. Duh.

What a great movie.

movie

[kgbkuz]

TERRIBLE MOVIE..For instance, when they powered the ship with the energy generated by the outer skin..they didn't have a CIRCUIT...therefore NO ELECTRON FLOW. They attached a SINGLE cable to the skin and POOF...power. Um...it PAINS me suspend my disbelief. How about a suspend the writers above a pit of lava..and then drop them into it? GET A SCIENCE ADVISOR, writers!

End Rant.

Chris

[iamrinocerous]

I really dont see any real benefits. especially immediate benefits