Project Orion

Project Orion was a study conducted by the United States government in the late 1950s and early 1960s to develop a spacecraft propulsion system that could generate high thrust and specific impulse by detonating nuclear bombs behind a spacecraft. The idea was to use this propulsion system to enable human exploration of the outer solar system, including manned missions to Mars. The project was ultimately cancelled due to concerns about nuclear fallout and the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963.
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