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by bjo590 2100 days ago
> Project Orion

Here is some declassified test footage of Project Orion. I don't believe any of the test crafts used nuclear explosions, but you'll get the idea from this footage (on why it's a terrible idea that could only exist in the 40s or 50s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Sv5y6iHUM

2 comments

I love the top comment on the video, "External combustion engine."
Orion is an impractical idea but the risks do seem manageable.

In "peacetime" it could never launch from the ground, but assembled in space it could be fruitful. It's probably the only possible way to get a city of people off the planet.