# Would Orion Work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-orion-work/168349>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 13, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-orion-work/168349 "2003-04-13T00:09:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Qeue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/b5ac83/32.png) [@Qeue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qeue)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-orion-work/168349/1 "2003-04-13T00:09:30Z")

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Although no proper tests were ever conducted to show the feasibility of Orion, aside from the chemical Putt-Putt model, is there anything suggesting that Orion could actually work?

What about the nuclear devices – would they eventually destroy the pusher plate assembly and possibly the ship itself? Would the ship and crew be subject to exposure to radiation from the bombs?

[http://www.nuclearspace.com/a\_orion\_and\_empire.htm](http://www.nuclearspace.com/a_orion_and_empire.htm)

[http://www.astronautix.com/lvfam/orion.htm](http://www.astronautix.com/lvfam/orion.htm)

[http://www.astronautix.com/articles/probirth.htm](http://www.astronautix.com/articles/probirth.htm)

> **[Nuclear pulse propulsion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion)**
>
> Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. It originated as Project Orion with support from DARPA, after a suggestion by Stanislaw Ulam in 1947. Newer designs using inertial confinement fusion have been the baseline for most later designs, including Project Daedalus and Project Longshot.
> Calculations for a potential use of this technology were made at the laboratory from and toward the c...

> **[Project Orion](https://www.mediamatic.net/en/page/9081/project-orion)**
>
> In 1957, tail fins, not seat belts, were standard equipment on American cars.

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**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-orion-work/168349/2 "2003-04-13T02:08:25Z")

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For a start, I take it you’ve seen [this recent, not unrelated, thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=176287).  
Beyond that, it’s difficult. I, for one, was rather impressed by the amount of detail George Dyson relates about the relevant bomb physics in his recent _Project Orion_. But, even then, he deliberately still remains explicitly coy/ignorant about the factors necessary to assess actual feasibility. While being optimistic.