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