Future Orion

Ground launched nuke pulse spaceships prob will not happen from
earth. This does not mean the whole idea is dead.
The nuke pulse concept gets more efficient as it gets bigger so one
would like to make big ships. So, why not launch from the moon? One
would not have to loft materials into lunar orbit.
Another possibility would be to modify an existing nickel-iron
asteroid although this is prob less efficient than launching from
lunar surface.
An interesting concept is the so-called Mag-Orion that uses the
interaction of the plasma with a large mag field generated by
superconducting coils to propel the ship even better than the Orion.
It also makes the pusher plate kinda easier. This would require some
advances in superconductors whereas the original Orion used nearly
existing technology.
A variation on the Mag-Orion is the Mini-mag Orion that would use Z-
pinch fusion explosions of very low yield to propel it. Z-pinch
systems of this size and efficiency have never been demonstrated. I
once calculated the "beam current" one would need to send "fuel" to
such an orion so it would not have to carry its fuel. The fuel would
be sent via neutral particle acceleartor in near solar orbit. Sorta
almost kinda maybe reasonable to get a craft up to .3c.
A more interesting concept is the Nuclear Salt Water Rocket that
originally I dismissed as just another nuke thermal rocket until I re-
read the concept recently and realized it was actually a continuous
nuclear explosion behind the rocket so it produces very high specific
impulse.
.

Relevant Pages

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