I did specify an ELE (Extinction Level Event) and Footfall (the novel mentioned) was an explicit alien invasion. So yeah, I don’t think anyone considers Orion a good option (for a Earth-based liftoff especially!) short of desperate need. Which is why I was suggesting NERVA or other NTP options upthread as better ideas.
Yeah, that’s the fundamental contradiction of Orion. It would absolutely kick ass as a heavy lift vehicle, I don’t think anything short of a space elevator could even give it a run for its money, but there’s no way anyone even remotely sane would ever approve one for normal operations.
You know, I know what ELE means, but for some reason, I thought it was a direct reference to the aliens in footfall, them being elephant like.
It’s been a long week.
Anyway, I didn’t mean to be seeming to contradict you, though I also agree with @Horatius that, if it weren’t for the massive environmental damage it would do, it would be a great way to get things into orbit.
And I agree with you and Horatius as well. It is by all appearances a workable (if with huge consequences) way around the immense cost of heavy lift to orbit that is the bane of all our major ambitions in space. And it would be so “easy”.
It’s like the Dark Side of the Force that way…
I know the The Test Ban Treaty prohibits exploding nukes in space, but is there a limit to the distance? How far away would you have to be before it didn’t matter?
I love that line. Great visual. How frequently was the proposed duration between explosions on an Orion craft?
About once a second, I think. A nice dignified slow knocking
Or maybe a fractured fragment of a once-great nation, a thousand years after the War of Judgement, trying to reclaim its glory days.
Though there, at least, the sane characters regarded it as something to be used from the surface only a few times, so as to establish a proper infrastructure base in orbit, and thenceforth to use them only in space.
Further than any other signatories have the ability to project force.
That sounds interesting! What book/comic/movie series is it from?
Orion will Rise, a novel by Poul Anderson. It’s great world-building, if you can tolerate that most of the main characters are total pricks.
Although that’s a bit of a spoiler, since you don’t actually get confirmation that the title is a reference to nuclear propulsion until like 2/3 of the way through the book.
Thanks! I may check it out