Orion aka "Ol' Boom-boom"

[Flixxbeatz]

Doing some "tests", this thing is massively op and I love it.

-snip-

I'm sure the kraken would be chasing you already at that speed...

[chickenplucker]

Just keep shoveling nukes out the back or something like this might happen if he catches up:

Edited June 11, 2013 by chickenplucker

[Sufficient Anonymity]

Don't know when I'll release orion. Stupid thing just spins while in orbit for no reason, depending on your current roll. At certain angles it will start spinning at something like 5 degrees/sec and others it won't move at all. And it spins on launch, and while using radial engines, for no damn reason.

I hope you're successful fixing it, as it's absolutely beautiful - you and nyrath have got something really impressive coming together here.

[nyrath]

I probably could have gone a little faster if I did a full orbit to my periapsis and going full nuke drive prograde but I couldn't turn the blasted thing because no rcs system. Took forever to get past the 100k-200k m/s mark but when I got down to about 1600 left of the 3600 nukes the speed started rising immensely.

The possible end speed will quite a bit higher in the near future. I'm lowering the mass of the 400MN charges from 3.68 tons to something closer to 1.152.

Meanwhile I'm about halfway through making the pop-up window in the engine dynamically add entries at run-time. This will mean that users can create new types of magazines that will appear in the menu. Currently the only types that can appear are hard-coded. This is not easy to program, but I want this mod to be customizable.

Other changes I've made are, lowering mass of 400MN charges, remove 2MN magazine (what good is it?), made 3.5MN magazines hold 60 charges instead of 92, added 20MN magazines, tweaked the pusher plate animation, and added user flags to the side of the engine.

[Scoundrel]

Firstly, I just want to say that I am outraged OUTRAGED that this thread, with its realism and practicality and really cool and well thought out implementation of an atomic rocket, plus its thoughtful consideration in permitting the community to participate in such a great project, has completely missed out on an opportunity of epic proportions! An opportunity to utilize - in a practical manner - what can only be considered to be the ultimate MacGuffin in the history of science fiction! A MacGuffin so awesome that it has formed the core of the greatest science fiction stories ever told, ever!

Allow me to elaborate:

Your atomic rockets use "canisters" and "nukes" of select sizes. Sure, this is realistic, but what if instead of canisters of nukes, a fuel tank was filled with raw Blutonium? And the size of the explosion was metered using a slider like this:

Now, I know what you're thinking: Scoundrel, how do you manage to be so devilishly handsome and manly, and yet be so incredibly ingenious and brilliantly funny… how can I become just like you/have your babies?

It's not easy, but stop trying to derail the thread, and let's get back to the subject of atomic rockets.

So your next thought is: Okay, but there's no technology that exists that would allow pure Blutonium to be turned into an atomic pellet and detonated. How could such an impossible feat ever be accomplished?

Ah-Ha! Excellent question! It is, in fact, the subject of this post! Scroll down to gaze upon this wondrously amazing piece of space technology that allows such impossible feats of science to become reality:

Yes! That's right! You are staring at the Blutonium K-36 Explosive Space Modulator! This technology allows raw Blutonium to go in and atomic pellets come out! Of course, there is the slightest infinitesimal chance that by introducing the Blutonium K-36 Explosive Space Modulator into the game that there might maybe potentially be the tiniest of possibilities that Kerbals sent to Duna might use it to destroy Kerbin (because it blocks their view of Eve), but I feel quite confident that, after extensive analysis and risk assessments, the likelihood of such a scenario occurring to be no higher than 99.9998%.

But enough talk about that! Now I shall further demonstrate its amazing utility by presenting the most technically detailed blueprint for an atomic rocket ever in the history of kerbal atomic rockets! Naturally, in the great naming tradition of naming things pretentiously like Death Phoenix or DeathRavenClaw or ShadowBladeEagleDeathEagleBladeShadowDragonPhoenixFangClawShadow, I too have given it a completely awesome and pretentious name. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Variable Impulse Metered Pulsed Atomic Rocket Experiment, or V.I.M.P.A.R.E.!

Hm. That wasn't quite the acronym I was going for… I guess that explains why I'm not in the naming department. But I digress.

Now, I know exactly what you're thinking: Scoundrel, you've used the atomic rocket concept as an excuse to design a giant flying gumball machine!

Wrong!

I've used the atomic rocket concept as an excuse to design a giant flying nuclear gumball machine!

To prove that it can actually be done, I present these amazing North Korean movie quality 3d renderings to showcase the V.I.M.P.A.R.E. in action!

And, because no atomic rocket project is complete without its own flag/patches, I present a couple of flag designs - plus some recolours - for consideration for the program:

And that concludes my presentation. Thank you.

[nyrath]

Bravo, Scoundrel! What can I say in the face of such awesomeness?

[Tommygun]

It's a giant atomic gumball machine, so does it take quarters or nickles?

[Scoundrel]

Bravo, Scoundrel! What can I say in the face of such awesomeness?

I am but a lowly sci-fi author who has used your atomic rockets site as a reference for no less than two of his (admittedly in-progress) novels, so I would submit that thou art far more awesomer than I. That aside, I'm really impressed with this project, and, humour notwithstanding, I would love to see this in the game (admittedly very, very late game) - hence the ridiculous yet Kerbal version of your atomic rocket to perhaps hopefully inspire someone upstairs.

It's a giant atomic gumball machine, so does it take quarters or nickles?

I'm afraid that information is classified, as it would completely give away the secret of the Blutonium K-36 Explosive Space Modulator.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Scoundrel
added additional response

[Anglave]

I'm checking in to apologize for my recent absence from this thread. I'm on vacation in FL until the 18th. Still playing some KSP (and demoing for friends), but not on a reliable schedule.

[Der Kosmos]

So Nyrath, are you going to make a Zubrin drive next?

[mushroomman]

Scoundrel has just made my day in a way that it has never been made before.

[Canopus]

But Sccoundrel, where are the nozzles on your bombs?

[Scoundrel]

Scoundrel has just made my day in a way that it has never been made before.

Thanks mushroomman!

But Sccoundrel, where are the nozzles on your bombs?

Nozzles are obsolete! Kerbals, who have been blowing things up ever since they tried to make the first wooden wheel (which blew up), have perfected the art of controlled blowing things up - that is, when they don't accidentally explode all on their own. Indeed, it is a little known fact that, like the Inuit of Earth who have hundreds of words to describe snow, Kerbals have hundreds of words to describe explosions. Of course, to our human ears, the majority of those words sound like variations of "Oops", and "Uh Oh", and "Whatdoesthisbuttondo", and even "Youaregoforlaunch." Since we, as non-Kerbals, lack the vocabulary, it is literally impossible to explain how the bombs function except to say that they use a hyper-advanced revolutionary new breakthrough in Kerbal technology to ensure that they explode outside of the ship rather than inside. But rest assured, explosions still remain an integral part of Kerbal culture, history, and exploration.

[Canopus]

look Guys Rareden has finished it:

[Mekan1k]

GREAT SCOTT!

It's GLORIOUS!

IS there one with a nuke going off? I want to see what he makes of the shockwave.

[Canopus]

GREAT SCOTT!

It's GLORIOUS!

IS there one with a nuke going off? I want to see what he makes of the shockwave.

I could ask him to make one but he is currently working on many request so it'll have to wait.

[nyrath]

look Guys Rareden has finished it:

Whoa! Rareden does some seriously stunning work!

So Nyrath, are you going to make a Zubrin drive next?

That would be overkill. What fun is going from Kerbin to Jool in five minutes on a teacup of fuel?

Edited June 12, 2013 by nyrath

[s20dan]

Indeed. As cool as the idea of an NSWR is, it would break the game... Although I would probably have said that about an Orion pulse drive too

Nyrath, I was having a read over your site last night and I noticed the entry on the Medusa pulse drive.. I think one of those would make the Orion seem rather sane.

Do you have any plans for a Medusa?

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Pulse--Medusa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion#Medusa

[nyrath]

I am but a lowly sci-fi author who has used your atomic rockets site as a reference for no less than two of his (admittedly in-progress) novels, so I would submit that thou art far more awesomer than I. That aside, I'm really impressed with this project, and, humour notwithstanding, I would love to see this in the game (admittedly very, very late game) - hence the ridiculous yet Kerbal version of your atomic rocket to perhaps hopefully inspire someone upstairs.

Thank you for your kind words. Let me know when your novels are published, I give them a read.

It would be nice to have an Orion as an official part of the game, but they need some sort of draw-back. Otherwise they break the game, i.e., they make the game too easy and thus destroy the challenge.

Indeed. As cool as the idea of an NSWR is, it would break the game... Although I would probably have said that about an Orion pulse drive too

Nyrath, I was having a read over your site last night and I noticed the entry on the Medusa pulse drive.. I think one of those would make the Orion seem rather sane.

Do you have any plans for a Medusa?

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Pulse--Medusa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion#Medusa

Maybe. Medusa has lots of advantages. But making a 500 meter umbrella is a bit of a challenge.

[Canopus]

What about a nuclear lightbulb?

[Mekan1k]

Nuclear lightbulb engines are supposed to be ideal for surface-to-orbit and interplanetary travel. I think I made a post some 30 pages back about this engine....

It combines the efficency of a nuclear engine in space with the power of a mainsail in atmos. Ideal for large (100-200 ton) SSTO lifter rockets.

[Canopus]

Nuclear lightbulb engines are supposed to be ideal for surface-to-orbit and interplanetary travel. I think I made a post some 30 pages back about this engine....

It combines the efficency of a nuclear engine in space with the power of a mainsail in atmos. Ideal for large (100-200 ton) SSTO lifter rockets.

Ys i know. it would kill the purpose of the game but it would be awesome to experiment with

We need those things IRL NOW!

[IsaacHeron]

Medusa has lots of advantages. But making a 500 meter umbrella is a bit of a challenge.

So, Daedalus then? 0.12c, ion-driven probes, dust bugs and repair robots...

On second thought: maybe that's not kerbal-like, too much planning involved.

[Canopus]

So, Daedalus then? 0.12c, ion-driven probes, dust bugs and repair robots...

On second thought: maybe that's not kerbal-like, too much planning involved.

It would be a bit boring too. Flying in one direction all the time.

[nyrath]

What about a nuclear lightbulb?

That would be fairly easy. A primitive prototype nuclear lightbulb would have a specific impulse of about 1870 seconds, thrust of 42 kN, and engine mass of 32 tons. T/W 1.3. Propellant is liquid hydrogen (seeded with tungsten particles) with a propellant mass flow of about 19 kilograms per second. Fuel is about 25 kilograms of uranium 235, which is burned at the miniscule rate of 0.055 grams per second (about 5.2 days of continuous burn time, the propellant will run out first). The uranium requirements can probably be ignored.

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Nuclear_Thermal--Gas_Core--Closed_Cycle

The "liberty ship" heavy boost vessel is said to have Isp 3060 seconds, thrust of 5,340 kN, engine mass of about 54 tons.

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/surfaceorbit.php#libertyship