[ExI] Hot Rod (was:Nuclear Space)

[spike]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org [mailto:extropy-chat-
> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of spike
...
> The entire rock goes into a slow rotation from asymmetric thrust, which
needs to be cancelled by intentional compensation from the next blast.
> 
> It would take sixty thousand such blasts to get to the 30 km/sec we used
> in an earlier example...
> 
> spike
> 


After I wrote this, I realized the rotation doesn't need to be cancelled.
On the contrary, it would be intentionally preserved.  Imagine a roughly
round rock a km in diameter, rotating at 1 revolution per minute.  Assume we
want to detonate the device at about half a radius from the surface, say
about 250 meters.  We would have our pile of nukes and a spring launcher all
in one spot.  We set the spring launcher to push the device to rise 250
meters in 30 seconds, 8 cm per second, then set the device to explode in 30
seconds after release, at which time we and our pile of nukes would be over
on the other side of the rock from the blast.  

Rinse and repeat, sixty thousand times.

And pray to evolution or your favorite deity that the timer and the spring
launcher work perfectly every single time.

At one detonation per minute, you could get R done in about six weeks.

spike