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Similarly crazy idea, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_Hercules A nuclear tipped SAM, blow all the missiles out of the sky together with the sky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-135_anti-ballistic_missile_s...
Problem one is that detonating a series of nuclear bombs in the atmosphere. The first couple are close to the ground and produce local fallout, the higher ones produce global fallout.
Problem two is that detonating nuclear bombs in space causes EMP. That doesn't destroy electronics on ground as thought but will knock out the electrical grid. The extra radiation will knock out satellites in space.
There is interstellar Orion, Project Daedalus, but that is quite different with inertial confinement fusion and magnetic fields directing the exhaust.
There was a classic science fiction story with a twist on this idea; a low tech species was about to be discovered by a more advanced species. And according to the rules of the more advanced species, any planet that wasn't capable of space travel would become a client or vassal, and a planet with space travel would be seen as a peer. The protagonist built a pusher style rocket using an explosive, and launched the lig…
Similarly crazy idea, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_Hercules A nuclear tipped SAM, blow all the missiles out of the sky together with the sky
Related, Sprint missile test (anti-ballistic-missile missile). Extremely fast acceleration, you can see in the test footage which is not sped up. Mass: 7,700 lbs.; Thrust: 650,000 lbs. Around 100 G of acceleration, reaching Mach 10 within 5 seconds. "The first stage was exhausted after only 1.2 seconds, but produced 650,000 pounds-force (2,891 kilonewtons) of thrust. On separation, the spent first stage disintegrated…
There was a classic science fiction story with a twist on this idea; a low tech species was about to be discovered by a more advanced species. And according to the rules of the more advanced species, any planet that wasn't capable of space travel would become a client or vassal, and a planet with space travel would be seen as a peer. The protagonist built a pusher style rocket using an explosive, and launched the lig…
There's too many "Orion" things out there to make it clear that this specific one is about nuclear propulsion.
Project Orion is a really bad idea. I guess it could be a good idea in specific situation where have to get a lot of mass off the planet and don't care about the effects. Problem one is that detonating a series of nuclear bombs in the atmosphere. The first couple are close to the ground and produce local fallout, the higher ones produce global fallout. Problem two is that detonating nuclear bombs in space causes EMP.…
But those are the least of the concerns.
Related: Interstellar nuclear-powered transport (1968) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28132756 - Aug 2021 (34 comments) - thanks antondd! Orion Project [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22691219 - March 2020 (1 comment) Nuclear Pulse Propulsion – Orion and Beyond (2000) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12705705 - Oct 2016 (99 comments) Project Orion (nuclear propulsion) - https://…
Interstellar nuclear-powered transport (1968) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28132756 - Aug 2021 (34 comments) There are a few more, under different titles. I remember reading Dyson’s autobiography a couple of years ago and he mentioned his involvement in the research. Absolutely amazing stuff.
An other quite interesting concept (also a little less "out there" and actually, successfully tested) is the NERVA engine, also linked at the bottom of the article[1]. It uses a nuclear reactor to heat up a single propellant (liquid hydrogen) which then rapidly expands as it goes out the nozzle at the end, resulting in quite high specific impulse and is more efficient than a chemical rocket. If we want to go really f…
No idea how this would ever actually work in reality for manned spaceflight. For unmanned it seems relatively doable (ignoring the entire cost of getting it off the ground and into space first). But for a manned mission? Being subject to 2-4g is one thing, but to have it happen regularly... like a jackhammer almost? Sounds like a really bad trip. You could not do anything while that engine was firing (not that it'd be easy to do something under 2g constant acceleration) without risk of being in the wrong place/position at the wrong time. I don't know what the long terms effects of repeated, assumingly rapid, 2-4g pulsing is on the human body.... but I'd guess it falls under "can't be anything good" category.
[1] https://umbraspaceindustries.github.io/UmbraSpaceIndustries/