While NASA has named the next planned human spacecraft post-space shuttle 'Orion' it is still old chemical technology- using boosters under it to achieve orbit. But if we harken back in time to the dawn of the Space Age, there was once a different Orion design - a nuclear-powered vehicle with some of the engineering about it even today stamped TOP SECRET!While there is a wonderful book enitled: Project Orion - A True Story of the Atomic Spaceship by George Dyson, there is also documentary called "Space Race: Project Orion" that should be reviewed by Blog readers interested in off-Earth rapid space transport in the future now on YouTube. The ideas for an atomic spaceship remain worthwhile and need to be revisited by 21st Century-minded atomic space engineers. The video links are in sequence - one, two, three, four and five. All five on one page may be easier to view.
The atomic spaceship [vid animation] needs international attention and cooperation for renewed research and design for subsequent construction if humans are to get much of anywhere in our solar system, [video by BBC]. It is time to open the skies and all the solar system to humankind! Remember Carl!
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