Difference between revisions of "Project Orion"

Latest revision as of 04:02, 21 January 2009

Intro

Project Orion is a propulsion concept where a space ship is propelled by small nuclear bombs pushing against a pusher plate. The ship is one of the few vehicles that combines high thrust with high ISP and could be a candidate for outer planet missions but presents considerable economic, engineering and political challenges for any use for a mission to Mars or the Moon.

Other candidates for vehicles to the outer planets include: gas core nuclear reactor, VASIMR and salt water nuclear reactors.

History

Insert History here

Economic Challenges

• Nuclear bombs are expensive both because of the cost of the materials needed and the techniques required to make them. Project Orion will need thousands of the most precise nuclear bombs ever built.

• Since there is no practical way for the vehicle to land, each launch will require a brand new space ship and the ship will have to be massive to have considerable efficiency over conventional launch ships. Because of the ship's massive size and complexity this would mean a considerable capital investment.

• Each launch will require the construction of a new launch pad which will require a layer of graphite (1 m deep?) covering about an acre.

Political Challenges

Project Orion will violate many treaties including, “the nuclear test ban treaty” and “the Moon treaty”. It will face huge opposition by environmentalists.

Engineering Challenges

Some engineering challenges include:

• Making nuclear bombs small enough to keep the vehicle small enough and the ride smooth enough.
• Making the nuclear bombs clean enough to keep nuclear pollution to “acceptable” levels.
• Keeping the vehicle from rotating (stabilizing control systems).
• Landing (if at all possible) or using some other method (RLV) to get the crew and cargo from project Orion down to the surface of the destination planet.

External Links

Encyclopedia Astronautica