Project Orion battleship

[MSimon]

C'mon, guys, his spacebar is wrecked. Give him a break.

Now, what I'd do is copy and paste a space from someone else's post. Using ctrl-v every time is more annoying than using ., but it is certainly easier to read... This is assuming ctrl and v both work...

I didn't know until a few minutes ago. All is forgiven.

[doug l]

I miss stuff here on occasion. In regards to getting mass into orbit (high g-capable payloads like fuel specifically) had others previously discussed the hydrogen powered Quicklaunch that Nextbigfuture mentioned in his earlier post? I watched the Googletech Talk that he links to in his post.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/01/ocean- ... ivery.html

In some ways it's reminiscent to Bussard's google talk in that he certainly seems to know what he's talking about, has real experience and some criticism for the establishment (NASA in this case).
I found it a very worthwhile hour during which he addresses a few of the other options on the table as well.

[Aero]

In regards to getting mass into orbit (high g-capable payloads like fuel specifically) had others previously discussed the hydrogen powered Quicklaunch that Nextbigfuture mentioned in his earlier post? I watched the Googletech Talk that he links to in his post.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/01/ocean- ... ivery.html

doug l - good find. It boils down to an SSTO system with stages one and two of the normal 3 stage rocket being replaced by a reusable ground launcher, i.e. a hydrogen fueled cannon. They don't burn the hydrogen, they compress it, heat it and expand it during the shot. And since they recover most of the hydrogen, even the fuel is reusable. Hydrogen because this low Z gas expands faster than any other, keeping the pressure up and under control, as I understand it.

These guys have been doing hydrogen cannon development for about 30 years, sounds like, and done some successful demonstrations of high velocities. I particularly liked the blasting the scram jet out the cannon at mach 7 and higher. It is not just stories if the pictures can be believed.

It seems to me that their program plan will work very well once they complete phase I, of establishing a new height record for cannon launched vehicles. And the goal of establishing a fuel depot in LEO seems quite achievable as presented. Fuel launching seems very low risk, all they need is a customer for it. A fuel station in LEO at $300 a pound should corner the market if their are any buyers.

P.S. Here is a direct link to the Google Tech Talk. http://quicklaunchinc.com/