Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion)

E17017

Cold War-era aerospace project interplanetary spacecraft concept interstellar spacecraft concept nuclear pulse propulsion system spacecraft propulsion concept

Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion) was a mid-20th-century concept for an interplanetary and interstellar spacecraft propelled by the controlled detonation of nuclear explosives behind a massive pusher plate.

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Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
Project Orion	1
Project Orion nuclear pulse propulsion concept	1
U.S. Project Orion program	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Cold War-era aerospace project ⓘ interplanetary spacecraft concept ⓘ interstellar spacecraft concept ⓘ nuclear pulse propulsion system ⓘ spacecraft propulsion concept ⓘ
aimedFor	interplanetary travel ⓘ interstellar travel ⓘ
alternativeLaunchMethod	orbital assembly and operation in space only ⓘ
basedOn	nuclear pulse propulsion ⓘ
canceledBecauseOf	Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ⓘ surface form: Partial Test Ban Treaty concerns about nuclear fallout ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
designedTo	achieve high thrust ⓘ achieve very high specific impulse ⓘ
developer	General Atomics ⓘ
documentedIn	Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship ⓘ
endTime	mid-1960s ⓘ
era	Cold War ⓘ
feature	massive steel pusher plate at spacecraft rear ⓘ mechanical shock absorbers between pusher plate and payload ⓘ series of nuclear charges ejected behind vehicle ⓘ
field	astronautics ⓘ nuclear engineering ⓘ space exploration ⓘ
goal	enable potential interstellar probes ⓘ enable rapid travel to outer planets ⓘ enable very large payloads to space ⓘ
hasEthicalIssue	environmental impact of atmospheric nuclear detonations ⓘ militarization of space with nuclear devices ⓘ
influenced	later nuclear propulsion studies ⓘ
keyPerson	Freeman Dyson ⓘ Stanislaw Ulam ⓘ Theodore Taylor ⓘ
locationOfProject	San Diego, California, United States ⓘ surface form: San Diego, California
proposedBy	Freeman Dyson ⓘ Stanislaw Ulam ⓘ
proposedLaunchMethod	ground launch using nuclear pulses ⓘ
propulsionMethod	sequential nuclear explosive charges ⓘ
relatedTo	Project Daedalus ⓘ Project Longshot ⓘ nuclear thermal propulsion ⓘ
startTime	1958 ⓘ
status	canceled ⓘ
supportedBy	Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ⓘ surface form: Advanced Research Projects Agency United States Air Force ⓘ
theoreticalDeltaV	tens of kilometers per second or more ⓘ
uses	nuclear explosives ⓘ pusher plate ⓘ shock absorber system ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship → focusesOn → Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion) ⓘ

this entity surface form: U.S. Project Orion program

Freeman Dyson → notableWork → Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion) ⓘ

Freeman → notableWork → Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion) ⓘ

subject surface form: Freeman Dyson

Stanislaw Ulam → proposed → Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion) ⓘ

this entity surface form: Project Orion nuclear pulse propulsion concept

George Dyson (science historian) → topicOfWork → Project Orion (nuclear pulse propulsion) ⓘ

subject surface form: George Dyson

this entity surface form: Project Orion