From: Eugen Leitl (eugen@leitl.org)
Date: Sun Jan 19 2003 - 02:56:59 MST
On Sat, 18 Jan 2003, JAY DUGGER wrote:
> 4) Having just read Dyson's Project Orion, my last cynical
> thought revolves around the US government designing a new
> generation of small, low-yield nuclear charges. Now that
> they have them, they need a rationale for their mass
> production. An Orion-class spacecraft sounds good, and the
> idea of ~1500 _tons_ to Mars sounds better.
The original Orion craft is supposed to go to orbit on own power. This
won't fly today.
It's a big, heavy structure, requires lots of lifts with chemical rockets.
Fueling up in orbit requires launches each with thousands to ten thousands
of mini-nukes as payload.
What's wrong with buiding a 100 N thrust plasma drive, driven by a
reactor?
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