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Interstellar nuclear-powered transport (1968) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28132756 - Aug 2021 (34 comments)

There are a few more, under different titles. I remember reading Dyson’s autobiography a couple of years ago and he mentioned his involvement in the research. Absolutely amazing stuff.




I watched all 157 of these: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzDA6mtmKQE... Really interesting.

I spoke to him once at a book signing and asked him about Orion. In summary he said: would it have worked - probably, should it be done - probably not. Although he did make the point that pretty much every big engineering project kills people.


Also some good physicist gossip. Apparently Teller was a big sulk and Oppenheimer was a massive pain in the arse (some of the time, anyway).


There’s a great BBC documentary on this called “To Mars by a Bomb”, highly recommend it. Was one of my first introductions to Freeman Dyson, ended up reading his autobiography as well. Was a remarkable man, and one of my favorite people to listen to.


It's on YouTube, and I second this recommendation.

https://youtu.be/xYoLcJuBtOw


Added. Thanks!




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