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 Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official 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 hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
This Ferrari F50 V12 engine was built to F50 GT specifications along with three chassis and another three or four race-specification engines. The F50 GT (also known as the Ferrari F50 GT1) was built by Ferrari in collaboration with Michelotto and Dallara to compete in the BPR Global GT Series against the likes of the…
We still frequently use the term horsepower as the primary indicator of how much power an engine produces, but very few can explain what it actually means and how it was originally calculated. This concise 9 minute short film explains the origins of the term, how it was calculated by James Watt, and why it…
The Waterproof Chelsea by Muck Boot is designed to be a boot you can wear everyday, whether it be on your morning commute or during a once in a lifetime storm. They look like regular boots but pack a specifications list that most other boots can only dream of, and they’re well-known for being comfortable…
The new Merlin Gobi motorcycle boots were developed by the British company to offer a daily-wearable street boot that includes built-in protection for motorcyclists. There’s a rapidly growing genre of dual purpose boots like the Merlin Gobi specifically designed for people who want the protection offered by motorcycle boots, in a shoe that they can…
In 1957 John Bond, the editor and owner of Road & Track Magazine, published a cover story on the Byers SR100 calling it the “World’s Most Beautiful Sports Car”. In fact, Bond liked the SR100 so much he bought a body and built his own from scratch; this would be the only car he would…
The Jaguar Pirana was designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, it was built at a lightning pace just in time for the 1967 Earl’s Court Motor Show, a process that took just 5 months from initial blueprints to completed car. Interestingly it was built using the frame and running gear of a Jaguar E-Type 2+2,…
