Space Ping!
Posted on 03/16/2009 8:28:20 PM PDT by tricky_k_1972
Talks George Dyson: Let's take a nuclear-powered rocket to Saturn.
About this talk
Author George Dyson spins the story of Project Orion, a massive, nuclear-powered spacecraft that could have taken us to Saturn in five years. His insider’s perspective and a secret cache of documents bring an Atomic Age dream to life.
About George Dyson
A historian and philosopher of science, George Dyson takes a clear-eyed and deeply researched view of our recent scientific past -- while showing where it may lead us
Hahaha, I thought this was the vacuum guy. Sheesh!
Are either George or his dad the Dyson of Dyson Sphere fame?
Freeman Dyson was the designer or idea man behind the Dyson sphere and a great deal more, such as this, Project Orion.
Is this the only way to get away from Obama?
it’s the most spectacularly awesome bad idea ever and i love it. that it would take 800 ‘pulses’ to enter orbit, posing the risk of eyeburn makes it almost cartoonish when you think about it, 98 parts persperation 1 part inspiration and a shot of Wile E Coyote to make things fun.
bump
What I love about is the scaling is totally non-linear. The bigger the thing the more efficient it is. You could lift spacecraft the size of small islands. Of course they would have to be launched at sea. They could happily cruise the entire solar system.
If we ever needed to evacuate planet Earth in a hurry, Orion could do it. An advanced Orion could travel from star to star as a generation ship. If you could get enough anti-matter together that might be cut down to a few years. In space, you could make them the size of minor planets, maybe a few hundred miles across. And it's 1960's technology - undeveloped. The road not taken...
It’s a great idea actually.
Thanks for pointing that out. A lot of people have never heard of the smart Dyson, just the celebrity version...
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