From: Jeff Shultz 

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 18:53:18 -0500, Steve Ewing wrote:

> On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 19:37:35 -0500, Geo  wrote:
>
>> I'm not against the space station or developing new engines to move us
>> out into space.
>
> This month's Discover mag has an article about the old "nuclear bomb
> drive".  I had heard of it, of course, and thought it certainly feasible,
> but upon reading the article realized for the first time that they had
> intended to take off from Earth!!  I had imagined a construction-in-space
> deal, but they were proposing to raise this 10,000 ton behemoth to space
> using "little" atom bombs:
>
> http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-05/features/grandest-rocket-ever/ ===
> Propulsion would come from nuclear detonations at half-second intervals,
> the yield increasing as the atmosphere decreased. The first 200
> explosions, providing a combined yield equivalent to 100,000 tons of
> TNT, would lift the ship from sea level to 125,000 feet. Each additional
> kick would add about 20 miles per hour to the ship's velocity. After
> 600 more explosions, the ship would be lofted into a 300-mile orbit
> around Earth.
> ===

Footfall by Niven & Pournelle - the good ship Michael.

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