NuclearSpace: Opening the Next Frontier pt. 1 is a very illuminating and inspirational article about designing and building a nuclear powered rocket. The author covers just about everything, although not in detail as its not a 'technical' paper, per se. I have to admit that I'd love to see this happen. Just as I'd like to see nuke power proliferate more in the US. We have the technology to make nuke powered devices redundant and quite safe, why not do it? Sure, the environmental scare mongers will scream 'radiation!', but the reality is the benefits far outweigh the risks, and the risks can be mediated quite a bit. Ask yourself this: 'If there was a hotel located in low earth orbit, and there was a rocket to get me there, would I go?'. Now, with the efficiency and power of a nuke powered rocket, you could change low earth orbit to say, L4 or L5, or Mars, or Jupiter, or Saturn.

I'd love to see this happen. As soon as possible. I think there's a good near-future SF story here, akin to Heinlein's The Man Who Sold the Moon.

I was born about 3 decades too early...

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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday January 14, 2004 at 3:46 PM
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