This BBC documentary, titled “To Mars By A-Bomb – The Secret History of Project Orion“, is one of the most fascinating 60 minute films I’ve seen so far this year. It tells the story of Project Orion, an incredible Cold War project to launch a 10,000 tonne spacecraft into space by setting off small yield nuclear bombs underneath it.
It sounds like science fiction but in the late 1950s, this was a serious program run by NASA, and it came a lot closer to happening than many people realise. The project was run by George Dyson who features heavily in this documentary, telling the history of the still partially classified NASA program in his own words.
If you like this sort of thing I suggest you grab a strong cup of coffee and hit play, you’ll be glad you did.
Ben has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The Matchless G80CS was one of the most dominant scrambles and off-road racing motorcycles of the 1950s and early 1960s. Before the arrival of the soon-to be-dominant Husqvarnas and other lightweight two strokes in the…
The Ferrari 275 GTB was a critically important model for Ferrari, it heralded the Italian automaker’s shift from live rear axles in their 250 GT series road cars to fully independent suspension with a rear…
Editor’s Note: We don’t typically feature choppers on Silodrome as it’s not really our wheelhouse, however we do make exceptions to this every now and then for special bikes. For a brief time the JRL…
The Simpson M50 helmet is a 21st century reissue of Simpson’s classic 1970s-style motorcycle helmets, but it’s now built to current DOT safety standards using modern materials and methods. Many motorcyclists who ride vintage…
Editor’s Note: Some of you may have noticed that this is the third “expedition across the Americas” type documentary that we’ve featured in recent weeks. This may be due to Covid-related cabin fever, however each of these…
This is a B-17 Flying Fortress glass coffee table, it’s made with an original engine from a B-17, the Wright R-1820-97 “Cyclone” turbosupercharged radial that was capable of 1,200 hp. Each B-17 (B-17G) was…
