
The Case for Orion
"Orion" was the project name of a spacecraft design study so absurd that it stood absolutely no chance of success from the very outset. The drive mechanism was to be an atomic bomb machine gun. Ridiculous as the idea seems it was still given a shoestring budget and a team of top scientists to work on it. The results of that research which ended about two generations ago are still largely classified, but what is known raises some startling questions.
Authorities at the time were no doubt influenced by many factors in their decision to eventually cancel Orion. Chief among them perhaps, with the bombing of Japan still fresh in peoples minds, was the sheer craziness of it.
Yet the scientists working on the project had no doubts about its feasibility. Years of experimentation had persuaded them it was not only a possible goal but the only really practical method of exploring space.
They talked of sending men to Mars by 1965 and Saturn by 1970. Apollo engineers struggled with weightsaving technologies such as five stage rockets for a moon shot carrying three astronauts.
Meanwhile the Orion planners routinely discussed such endeavours as establishing a large permanent moonbase in a single mission.
The scientists and engineers involved with Orion were no fools. Among their many supporters were Wernher Von Braun. Acclaimed as the father of NASA. Originally opposed to such a bizarre idea he changed his mind after seeing a test model fly using TNT. Reportedly falling out of his chair in surprise at seeing such undeniable evidence of pulse propulsion demonstrated.
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