The Ten Orion Spaceships

Orion Shall Rise, CHAPTER NINETEEN, 2.

The successful unmanned test ship, designed to float and recovered at sea, will be rebuilt. The remaining nine are ground-landable.

The second test flight, manned, will check controls and landing gear. The third, manned, will test lasers, solar collectors and projectiles. The fleet will be launched in under two years. The director, Eygar Dreng, expects that maybe two will be lost and five will malfunction.

Orion requirements:

to leave Earth and return;

to maneuver freely in air or space;

to land on a runway or level ground;

to be independent of ground control;

to carry computers and crew at several control boards;

to carry reserves for a second try if she misses a pass;

to carry cargo to the Moon or an expedition to Mars.

 

Propulsion:

 

a nuclear bomb is dispatched down a chute;

 

valves open and close behind it;

 

the bomb detonates unless overriden;

 

there are bombs of different kilotons and a muffler for the minimum size;

 

chemical rockets and gyroscopes give maneuverability;

 

a cellular structure comprising a compressible lattice of doped fluorosilicone chains and carbon rings in the bottom plate absorbs energy, shrinks and rebounds, thus moving the ship in space, and also "'...supplements the hydraulics in the upper plates, which time-attentuate the impact...'" (p. 331) and, if you can understand that, then you are a better man than I am.