Opening the Next Frontier
by Anthony Tate

Part 11: Ok, that all sounds nice, but this is just fantasy, right?


Well, no...

The sort of huge nuclear powered booster described above is pretty far out, but it is based on technology and ideas that are decades old. Modern technology just makes it possible to make the design more powerful while keeping it safe, but the concepts and design principals are all well established.

Indeed, NASA has been bringing up the scary 'nuclear' word more and more in the last few years, dipping a cautious toe to see what the mood of the country is. They seem to find that mood agreeable, as more and more nuclear projects get looked at.

As well, the government recently approved funds to construct a new facility in the US deserts to test nuclear rockets, the SAFE facility. In the 60's we could just test them out in the open. Enough of the unjustified nuclear paranoia of the last three decades has infected the government that they desire to be insanely cautious. But the important thing is, progress has begun.

Nuclear power is really the only viable option to open space to our use. Fortunately, the government finally realizes that fact and is slowly moving to capitalize on it.

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Contents:

1: The Frontier Spirit

2: What went wrong.

3: Where do we go next?

4: So, why aren't we going?

5: Dealing with the Devil

6: A brief technical interlude

7: So how good is Nuclear, anyway?

8: Heat, temperature, and cooling.

9: But isn't this dangerous?

10: Prometheus would be proud of us.

11: Ok, that all sounds nice, but this is just fantasy, right?

12: But isn't this just too big?

13: But doesn't this thing make nuclear waste?

14: Conclusions