Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion, is a theoretical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. It was first developed as Project Orion by DARPA, after a suggestion by Stanislaw Ulam in 1947. Newer designs using inertial confinement fusion have been the baseline for most post-Orion designs, including Project Daedalus and Project Longshot.
Read more about Nuclear Pulse Propulsion: Project Orion, Project Daedalus, Medusa, Project Longshot, Antimatter Catalyzed Nuclear Pulse Propulsion
Famous quotes containing the words nuclear and/or pulse:
“The problems of the world, AIDS, cancer, nuclear war, pollution, are, finally, no more solvable than the problem of a tree which has borne fruit: the apples are overripe and they are falling—what can be done?... Nothing can be done, and nothing needs to be done. Something is being done—the organism is preparing to rest.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)
“The motor idles.
Over the immense upland
the pulse of their blossoming
thunders through us.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)