Orion Saturn V Media Gallery

The final iteration of the Orion design was a nuclear pulse propulsion module launched into earth orbit by a Saturn V. The 100 tonne unit would have had a diameter of 10 m to match that of the booster. This would limit specific impulse to 1800 to 2500 seconds, still two to three times that of a nuclear thermal system.

A second launch would put a 100 tonne Mars spacecraft with a crew of eight into orbit. After rendezvous and checkout, the combined 200 tonne spacecraft would set out on a round trip to the Mars - total mission duration as little as 125 days!

Manufacturer: General Atomic. Payload: 100,000 kg (220,000 lb). to a: Mars and back trajectory. Total Mass: 100,000 kg (220,000 lb). Core Diameter: 10.00 m (32.00 ft). Total Length: 50.00 m (164.00 ft).

• Brower, Kenneth, The Starship and the Canoe, Bantam, 1979. ISBN: 0030391962. A meditation on the values and lives of Frederick Dyson, weapons scientist, father of the Orion nuclear pulse starship, and his son, who lives in the Pacific Northwest forest and builds canoes. More at amazon.com...