[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/sci/ - Science & Math

View post   
File: 369 KB, 750x894, 1445271B-5694-4DAB-B8C0-B20745D27D8D.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9314819 No.9314819 [Reply] [Original]

Just imagine where we would be in terms of space development had we not chickened out on this.
>8 million ton spaceships

>> No.9314937
File: 99 KB, 336x296, coyote.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9314937

>>9314819
>Just imagine
I grew up on roadrunner cartoons, I know exactly how this ends.

>> No.9314946

>>9314819
If we managed to do it safely?
Mhm... but no nukes in space, because of the law. Thank you, Cold War.

>> No.9314947

>>9314946
This. Fucking Communists.

>> No.9314976

>>9314819
Wait, is this legit? Were these designs ever verified? 6,000 Isp is ridiculous huge. 100,000 is unimaginable.

>> No.9315716

>>9314946
Just use nukes to launch spacecraft to orbit and switch to solar sail or ion drive afterwards. Maybe we could bypass the restriction that way idk.

>> No.9315722

We can instead wait for the Developing world to develop and then we'll all go together on actually practical and eco-friendly technology like solar sails.

Nuclear weapons are wrong and a crime against humanity.

>> No.9315786

>>9315722
Muh electric rocket.

I don't think a cargo spaceship would classify as a weapon, either.

>> No.9315815
File: 30 KB, 298x403, Waiting-Skeleton.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9315815

>>9315722
>We can instead wait for the Developing world to develop
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

>> No.9315918

>>9314976
Oh, yeah, it was a legitimate project.
https://www.amazon.com/Project-Orion-Story-Atomic-Spaceship/dp/0805059857

Tests were made with small, chemical explosive models. Basic idea worked.
But it wasn't the "no nukes in space" laws which killed it.
It was the above ground test ban. Fear of fallout.

Orion HAD to be huge because fission bombs are too expensive to waste on "small" explosions.
Could return if we ever figure out how to initiate fusion without a fission-trigger. Maybe converging lasers or electron beams. Could be used once in orbit to give high thrust and exhaust velocity without contaminating the atmosphere or jolting your teeth out.