- #1
Xforce
- 73
- 6
- TL;DR Summary
- The Orion project was available with current technology... however carry thousands of nukes on board might not be a great idea
Nations prohibit the detonation of nukes in space, but I don’t know there is a better way to use these weapons of mass destruction, than propelling a probe on a interstellar travel at relativistic speeds in the near future.
Also, the origin Orion, where all the nukes are carried onboard, will reduce the top speed because of the rocket equations. What about a nuclear mine field?
My idea is, having a probe less than a ton, attached to something like a light sail, tens of kilometers across, but only tens of microns thick, hold together by nanomaterials.
There are around 10,000 nuclear warheads in the world’s arsenal, mostly from America and Russia. We can arrange them into a slightly curved line (curvature decrease as far away from sun) each time when the probe passes a nuke, the nuke detonates nanoseconds after. The thin sail will ablates each time, providing extra thrust than the light pressure, and prevent overheating... when all the nukes have been detonated, the probe should be able to reach relativistic speeds, even sub-light speeds.
Also, the origin Orion, where all the nukes are carried onboard, will reduce the top speed because of the rocket equations. What about a nuclear mine field?
My idea is, having a probe less than a ton, attached to something like a light sail, tens of kilometers across, but only tens of microns thick, hold together by nanomaterials.
There are around 10,000 nuclear warheads in the world’s arsenal, mostly from America and Russia. We can arrange them into a slightly curved line (curvature decrease as far away from sun) each time when the probe passes a nuke, the nuke detonates nanoseconds after. The thin sail will ablates each time, providing extra thrust than the light pressure, and prevent overheating... when all the nukes have been detonated, the probe should be able to reach relativistic speeds, even sub-light speeds.