[ExI] Asteroid on track for possible Mars hit

[Stefano Vaj]

On Dec 24, 2007 9:21 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

> Hi John, I may be wrong about this, but it seems we still need chemical
> rockets to get our nuclear Orion stages into LEO, so the launch of an
> Orion
> would look like any other heavy lifter, such as the Lockheed/commie
> Proton.
> I don't see how we could control nuclear blasts of sufficient magnitude to
> use them as a first or even second stage.  There are too many
> unpredictable
> factors if we are trying to accelerate a huge structure at a couple G (at
> least) via nuclear blasts and ablation.  One such problem would be
> asymmetric thrust, which would be manageable in deep space but a surely
> catastrophic mission ender if it occurs while still in the thick air.


No, actually from an engineering point of view it seemed feasible enough,
especially if measures are not required to protect a crew (pulse absorbers,
radiations shielding, etc.).

Single stage to Mars and beyond. According to calculations, a fission Orion
could achieve 3-5% c, a fusion one 8-10% c. The only problem is the fallout.

Stefano Vaj

>
>
> We would need to carry a few hundred tons of nukes and ablative material
> into LEO, assemble it there, and take off from LEO, ja?  Then the maximum
> acceleration would be a fraction of a G, a few tenths perhaps, over a
> large
> number of pulses to eventually reach enormous delta Vee, the kind of delta
> Vee that makes rocket scientists awaken in a pleasantly aroused cold
> sweat.
>
> {8^P---------w========V     <--- (Me, dreaming of enormous delta V)
>
> Have you any calcs to suggest otherwise?  Do share.
>
> spike
>
>
>
>
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