10 Crazy Space Ideas Which Almost Came True

scifi.bg

This guy wanted to detonate atomic bombs in the atmosphere for scientific purposes.

One of the most serious drawbacks in regards to space travel is the inefficiency of contemporary engines. We have ideas for the potential engines of the future which could possibly fix that, maybe even before our children die of old age, but for now – all we have is chemical fuel. And we need A LOT OF IT only to get to space. In 1958 physicists Freeman Dyson and Ted Taylor thought of an alternative – nuclear blasts!

Project Orion presented a nuclear pulse engine which allows for quick acceleration. Unfortunately, some minor problems, such as the high-level risk, radiation and the huge amounts of pollution stood in the way and then the international agreement to ban nuclear explosions in the atmosphere from 1963 put the lid on the coffin of the project. Despite that, we have to say that this technology would probably be not all that much useless and irresponsible in space itself, which is why it’s so far behind in the ranking. Perhaps the opposite is true – nuclear pulse could move way larger objects than shuttles way faster than what is currently possible. And leaking radiation is space wouldn’t probably be such a big deal.