New Mars Forums

I second Cindy's comment.  MAIL IT!!    I wonder if they will write back? 

Has anyone seen this infomercial?  I watched it to see how slick it would be against nuclear power and other forms of energy.  It even had a couple of Hollywood stars in it.  I thought Jeffery Tambor was about to break down and start crying!  The Mars Society and the nuclear propulsion communities should team up and do the same thing.  In the Greenpeace commerical, they had T-Shirts, a pre-made letter to send to the President, automatic donations, etc...  Would this be a good idea for us to use?  Let's hear some ideas about this.

ecrasez_I_infame,

You're probably going to bash me over the head for asking this , but have you seen this guy on the HSN who sells the telescopes called Galileo?  If you have, what is your opinion?  I have a couple of copies of Orion telescopes catalogs but I don't know if those are good ones or not.  Are there any sites out there that you can compare telescopes?  Thanks.

I say jump on it, soph!  But you probably need to get permission from The Mars Society first.  Good Luck!!

I agree Shaun.  People are more aware of things scientific than they were 40-50 yrs ago but still have that 1950s mind set of anything nuclear or "atomic" is bad.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  With the current administration and a majority Republican House and Senate, there needs to be a push on the nuclear movement! 

Just imagine having a crew exploring our solar system within our lifetimes.  It's only going to happen with nuclear propulsion.

How large would Orion be?  What is the estimated crew size?  Does it have steerable engines?  I have heard of Orion before since that was our closest nuclear propulsion spaceship.  It's a shame when it died. 

People will always complain about fallout and radiation.  Well, standing next to a microwave gives you radiation.  If launching from the ocean proves to the scientists, and more importantly the general public, that a 0.1 KT detonation is harmless to propel a ship into space, then IT SHOULD HAPPEN!  How else are we going to test applications without testing first?  Computer programs can only do so much.

As always, RobertDyck, Good post!  You may have answered somewhere before, but do you work in the Aerospace field?  You have some extremely thought out ideas.

Oker56, post the letter.  I think everyone would like to read it.

Now, how long will it take for this material to get fully tested?

Too bad that we don't have an agency that sole purpose is to test new materials, ideas, propulsion systems only.

I don't know if I've posted this to the right topic or not.
I've found two very good websites on nuclear propulsion:
http://www.newworlds.com/nucpro.html
http://www.nuclearspace.com/

I'm not an expert on anything dealing with this topic, but from what I've read, to me, nuclear propulsion is the best way to go as far as propulsion.  It's been tested in the past and found to work.  It has Isp(s) hundreds of times higher than chemical propulsion.  We have the material available from nuclear missiles that are being dismantled.  I don't want to turn this into a political debate but, with a majority Republican party in Congress and the White House, now would be the best time to try and get research and development started again.  I know that the environmentalists are going to complain about a rocket blowing up in the atmosphere, but in the above listed websites, even if a reactor was in an explosion of a Challenger size it would not have received any damage or leaks.  I would like to hear comments and/or complaints.  Thanks.

Now since we have a majority ruled Congress, we should renew "Operation Congress".  I think that we should emphasize nuclear propulsion research and development.  That seems the most current and available technology that has proven results.  I say that someone come up with a new letter that can be sent to the sentators, representatives, V.P., and the President.  I'm interested in any comments.

ecrasez_l_infame, I believe it is Low Earth Orbit.