Why read Project Orion?

Book cover of Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship

Book description

In 1957, a small group of scientists, supported by the U.S. government, launched an attempt to build a four-thousand-ton spaceship propelled by nuclear bombs. The initial plan called for missions to Mars by 1965 and Saturn by 1970. After seven years of work, political obstacles brought the effort to a…

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Nuclear weapons

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Why read it?

1 author picked Project Orion as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tai Stith

Author

Imagine the classic, stereotypical 1950s rocketship. Now, imagine that rocketship is propelled by hundreds of nuclear bombs, and those nuclear bombs are dropping out the bottom and exploding, causing the rocketship to shoot skyward, sending humans to Mars—or beyond.

That was the wild premise of Project Orion, a real—and really classified—government project that began in 1957 and continued for an astounding seven years.

For a book with loads of heavy technical concepts, Dyson’s writing is sublime. He mixes vivid environments with colorful character backstories to weave the perfect science story. I resonated with his very successful attempt to document…

From Tai's 3 favorite reads in 2023.