project orion

Project Orion was a study conducted in the 1950s and 1960s by the USAF, DARPA, and NASA into the viability of a spacecraft propelled by a series of nuclear explosions behind itself. Usually associated with the name and depicted in artwork is the USAF 10 meter design with a cylindrical profile.

Not to be confused with the Orion spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis Program.