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 four-cylinder Windhoff was one of the most advanced motorcycles of its time thanks largely to its engine, which doubles as the motorcycle frame, and features oil-cooling, an overhead camshaft, and an engine block that acts as a giant radiator. Windhoff Motorcycles Windhoff Motorcycles, officially Windhoff Motorradenbau GmbH, began producing motorcycles in 1924 but the company…
The Austin 7 – An Introduction It was in an Austin 7 that I went on my very first ever road trip. It would have been in about 1961, I was still at primary school, and a member of the school “Scripture Union” club. Our teacher, Mr. Britain, decided to fit three or four of…
The Wishbone is a custom car built by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth in 1967, it proved to be a disaster for him and his company, he became so incensed with the car he had it cut up and thrown away – forever removing the car from the face of the Earth. Or so he thought….
The De Tomaso P70, later known as the Ghia DeTomaso, was a joint project between two independent icons of the motoring world – Alejandro de Tomaso of Argentina and Carroll Shelby of the USA. The project was founded to develop a race car able to compete in and dominate the then-new United States Road Racing…
Tripla 0.0 675 is a series of 5 bespoke Triumph Street Triples from Italian Dream Motorcycle, a company that describes itself as a microscopic motorcycle manufacturer due to the fact that they produce a limited series of motorcycles each year, with a maximum of 5 per series. Sergio Giordano and Italian Dream Motorcycle Italian Dream is an unusual…
The first generation of the Ford Bronco has become a much sought after vehicle by people looking for a simple and easy to maintain classic 4×4 that delivers a good (for the period) on-road and off-road driving experience. The fact that the Bronco is a design icon from the early days of civilian 4x4s does absolutely nothing to hurt its global desirability.
