The Mini-Mag Orion Space Propulsion System

April 25, 2013, 6:00AMANS Nuclear CafeStan Tackett

ANST logoIn my previous article on the history of nuclear pulse propulsion, I outlined three research programs in nuclear propulsion systems for space travel.  The first of these, Project Orion, was investigated in the 1950s and 1960s as a very serious and practical option for space travel.  Its only limiting factor was the signing of the International Test Ban Treaty in 1963 that barred the detonation of nuclear weapons in space.