Project Orion - 1958 Nuclear Powered Spacecraft

The air force investigated the possibility of using nuclear powered spacecraft and were apparently very serious about it. Hat tip to Alien Case Book for this interesting video. Author George Dyson spins the story of Project Orion, a massive, nuclear-powered spacecraft that could have taken us to Saturn in five years. His insider’s perspective and a secret cache of documents bring an Atomic Age dream to life. Problem is that NASA killed the project and have some archival problems as you will find out if you watch the entire video! HERE is the link to the TED original post.



Here is an Excerpt from BBC's "To Mars by A-Bomb" (2003), with footage of the "hot rod" tests and comments by Arthur Clarke and Freeman Dyson.



And here is Carl Sagan



Here is a re-imaging of what the rocket may look like