

Nuclear Pulse Spacecraft -- propelled to .1c by a continuous stream of exploding fission bombs - rms
http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=679

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rbanffy
"While they worked feverishly at overcoming the technical challenges" is an
incredibly optimistic depiction of the challenges of exploding a string of 4
kiloton nuclear bombs to propel a spacecraft to orbit.

I think the nuclear lightbulb designs hold a lot more promise than the Orion
design. Even the NERVA and ROVER systems seemed more viable and efficient.
They too have many unsolved technical problems (how do you store the fuel
while the lightbulb is not lit or what to do with engine abrasion on NERVA and
ROVER) but those problems seem quite small when faced with the very idea of
blasting a hundred nukes in someone else's ionosphere.

Still, an Orion launch must be something very cool.

Just my $0.02

