brief history of Project Orion

A Brief History of Project Orion describes the research and development of an interplanetary spacecraft which was to use atomic bombs as its propulsive force. Initiated in the late 1950s, the project involved some of the most brilliant scientists of the time. The concept of using atomic detonations for spacecraft propulsion was extremely attractive because of the vastly greater energy available as opposed to conventional chemical propellants; atomics produce in the range of one million times as much energy as chemicals. The project was headed by Theodore Taylor (later by Frederick de Hoffman) and included Freeman Dyson as a theoretical physicist and mathematician. Project Orion was ultimately canceled because of funding problems and the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban treaty in 1963.