tags: space

George Dyson talks Project Orion

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

Project Orion was a Top Secret U.S. project to build a huge space cruiser, powered by A-Bombs, that would ultimately be used to colonise Mars and Saturn. It sounds like one of the more hair-brained schemes of the of the early atomic age, but in actual fact project Orion was granted a massive budget, and to the surprise of even the scientists, was well on its way to actually working. However, it was never to be completed. A combination of the nuclear backlash of the 60’s, nuclear test ban treaties, and JFK’s personal horror at military plans for the project (to construct massive orbital nuclear battleships) were to eventually kill it. Somewhere though, the rest of these files still exist, and the project waits to be resurrected.

Here George Dyson, son of project leader and all round genius Freeman Dyson (after whom Gordon Freeman was named, trivia fans) talks about his childhood memories of being told his dad was building a rocketship to travel to Saturn.

Credits