Project Orion

Project Orion was the first engineering design study of a spacecraft powered by nuclear pulse propulsion. Orion design would have worked by dropping fission or thermonuclear explosives out the rear of a vehicle, detonating them 200 feet (60 m) out, and catching the blast with a thick steel or aluminum pusher plate.

1964 NASA design

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  An artist's conception
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  Overall design
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  Pulse unit design
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  Powered flight station
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  Propulsion module
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  Project Orion Saturn-V compatibility

French translations

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  Overall design
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  Orion pulse unit
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  Orion escape vehicle

Dutch translations

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  principeschets Orion raket

Various mission configurations

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  10m, Mars orbit, 8 men
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  10m, Mars surface, 8 men
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  10m, Mars orbit, 20 men
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  10m, Mars surface, 20 men
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  20m, Mars surface, 20 men
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  20m, Mars surface, 50 men
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  20m, Mars one-way cargo
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  20m, Jupiter, 20 men
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  10m, LEO-lunar surface

Other designs

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  Early Orion Concept
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  GABRIEL, 1999 version
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