this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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Darpa Project Orion (1958) - Theoretical 8 million ton spacecraft the size of a small city. (lemmy.world)
submitted 7 months ago by laverabe to c/space
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

That’s not the size of small city.

Edit: apologies. I don’t think that hit quite like it meant to. I’ll delete the offensive part because it doesn’t really sound very nice.

[–] laverabe 1 points 7 months ago

The biggest design above is the "super" Orion design; at 8 million tons, it could easily be a city.[25] In interviews, the designers contemplated the large ship as a possible interstellar ark. This extreme design could be built with materials and techniques that could be obtained in 1958 or were anticipated to be available shortly after.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion)

[25] Dyson, George (2002). Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship. New York: Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 978-0-8050-7284-6.