Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran
The danger of a working Orion lift off would be much less dangerous than mundane industries as far as disease and sickness goes. But the OMG, RADIATION! terror would do the killing for it.
Panic and politics would be the true dangers, and very real too.
|
The calculation at the time was ten extra deaths per vehicle launch (compared with a thousand overall from the general atmospheric testing that was going on). Using better models, it's probably more like a hundred per launch.
If you are interested in Orion, the absolutely necessary book is George Dyson's
Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship. Highly recommended.