Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship - George Dyson

The year is 1957. The Nuclear Age is in full swing and the Space Race has just begun with the challenging launch of Sputnik 1 by the Russians. In the United States, the Ultra Top Secret project 'Orion' seeks to combine elements of both nuclear and space technology and eclipse the Russian achievement, proclaiming American superiority in space for ever. This was the most ambitious space project ever conceived. Orion was to be a 4,000 tonne manned spaceship capable of travelling to Saturn and beyond. The power for the enormous thrust required to move such a large craft was, incredibly, nuclear bombs. Imagine an egg shaped spaceship with a large plate ...  Read the complete review