History Main / OrionDrive

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Film/DeepImpact''. There's is a blink-and-you-miss-it scene of the spaceship ''Messiah'' launching via a nuke exploding behind it, but otherwise it's not emphasized (surprisingly given the DeusExNukina).

* ''VideoGame/Aurora4X'', Nuclear Pulse Drive is the second tier of researchable engines. Subverted as its no different than any other engines including Antimatter drives.
* ''Videogame/KerbalSpaceProgram'':

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', the sleeper ship is propelled by an Orion-type drive (probably the laser-fusion variant), the shield of which fails (almost certainly due to sabotage--the ship's captain was also assassinated at the same time) when the ship is almost at its destination, causing the passengers on the colony ship to splinter into factions.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. The military calls them in to investigate the theft of components to an Orion Drive. Kevin immediately deduces that it's a nuclear bomb.

* ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'' has an Orion Drive based ship appear in Volume 6. Developed in secret, its planned launch is the driving force of the plot [[spoiler:to kill Robo, as its launch would cause enough radioactive fallout to wipe out all life on Earth, leaving Robo as the last survivor, who would then almost certainly chase after it.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': The [[RetroRocket rocket]] designed by [[AbsentMindedProfessor Professor Calculus]] in "[[Recap/TintinDestinationMoon Destination Moon]]" and "[[Recap/TintinExplorersOnTheMoon Explorers on the Moon]]" is propelled by slow-detonating nuclear fission explosions. The engine is made of "[[{{Unobtainium}} calculon]]", a silicon-based material that was invented by Calculus to withstand the radiation and extreme heat created by the explosions. The rocket also has chemical-fuelled rocket engines so that it can take off and land without polluting the surroundings with deadly nuclear fallout.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

* In the [[http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/12730648/images/1289268890462.png "big enough rock" story]], humans use a massive explosion to propel [[spoiler:both the Earth and the Moon, one towards hostile aliens, the other towards a new habitable orbit]].
* ''WebSite/AtomicRockets''
** The site has an article on how they work, and on the research that went into the "nuclear shaped charges" (codenamed Casaba Howitzer) that make it go. A tungsten "pancake" results in a beam of plasma (great if you want to use nukes in space, not so much if you want to use them to fly with). Conversely, a styrofoam (yes, really) "cigar" results in a wide wave of plasma, focusing 80% of the bomb's energy onto the pusher plate.
** A related idea mentioned is "Nuclear salt water" engines. The propellant is just regular water with thorium salt dissolved in it. Once it's pumped out of the neutron-absorbing holding tanks, the salt [[GoingCritical goes prompt-supercritical,]] resulting in a nuclear explosion. The advantage is that it has the exact same power as an Orion drive, but it can keep the pumps on a lot longer. The disadvantage? If it gets shot in the gas tank, it'll explode.
** In the "[=RocketCat=]'s Universe" sample setting, Canada has a fleet of Orion drive warships.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''WebComic/AtomicRobo'': This type of craft is the plan of ALAN, used to leave Earth for a voyage of discovery, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome which would do unfortunate things to the planet he left behind]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': Discussed when the main cast is inadvertently trapped a few light-seconds away from Planet Jean with only one reactor (long-distance space travel requires two). Sam proposes an Orion drive in lieu of a second reactor, given the availability of a bombs factory that is largely inactive. Unfortunately, the two-reactor rule is for life support purposes rather than propulsion, and besides, the ''Savage Chicken'' isn't durable enough for more than one Orion pulse.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien''. The military calls them in to investigate the theft of components to an Orion Drive. Kevin immediately deduces that it's a nuclear bomb.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:RealLife]]

* ''Literature/TroyRising'' by Creator/JohnRingo: Troy, a massive battle station ten kilometers wide made from a hollowed-out and inflated asteroid, adds an OrionDrive so that it can get to the PortalNetwork and go crush enemy alien fleets. Upon first seeing the ''Troy'' come through the gate, the aliens think it's been hit, only to [[LaughingMad suddenly realize it's actually the drive.]]

* ''Literature/EdisonsConquestOfMars'', a FanSequel to ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' published in 1898, has the Martians retreat by detonating a bomb underneath their [[DropPod Cylinder]], propelling them back home. Since they don't have a Space Launch Cannon like the one they used to invade with, they waste a lot of the energy, nescesitating that they use a bomb capable of leveling the entirety of New York and New Jersey states.

** ''Literature/TheGoldenGlobe'': The wreck of an Orion spaceship is converted to an interstellar starship.
** ''Literature/SteelBeach'' sets several scenes near or within the bulk of the "Robert A. Heinlein," the aforementioned Orion-style ship, which was built and then abandoned when humanity lapsed into apathy for stellar exploration.

* ''Literature/TheLandOfCrimsonClouds'': This is called "photonic drive". A spaceship is semi-spherical, and its inner surface is covered with a super-mirror[[note]]"[[AppliedPhlebotinum Mezosubstance]]", probably consisting of atoms where electrons were replaced with heavier negative particles; this kind of substance is theorized to be much more durable than normal "electrosubstance", but nobody figured yet how to make it last even a microsecond.[[/note]] that reflects everything allowing to use the momentum of light for propulsion. So basically, thermonuclear explosions under the mirror drive the ship forward. In the sequels mirrors are thicker, engines are smaller, ramscoops appear, certain side effects are discovered at relativistic speeds. This eventually leads to CasualInterstellarTravel as seen in Literature/NoonUniverse proper.
* ''Literature/TheLongRun'': The main character, Trent, is in orbit around Luna and being chased by the bad guys. The pilot of his ship says that he is sure that they can get away, Trent says "Good", the pilot replies "Not really, it involves the Orion maneuver". Trent replies "Oh, no" to which the pilot responds "Oh, you have heard of it...".

%%* ''Film/DeepImpact'': The ''Messiah'' has an Orion Pulse Drive.

[[folder:{{Anime and Manga}}]]
* Thermonuclear propulsion is commonplace in the [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Gundam "Universal Century" continuity]], used primarily for extremely massive vessels like space colonies, most notably the asteroid base Axis which used it to move freely throughout the solar system. [[AllThereInTheManual Officially]] it actually uses solid fuel pellets which are forced to undergo nuclear fusion with lasers or particle beams, but in the movie ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'', a nuclear warhead is actually detonated in the thruster cones of Axis in order to propel it on a [[ColonyDrop collision course]] for Earth.

[[folder:{{Comic Books}}]]

* The [[RetroRocket rocket]] designed by [[AbsentMindedProfessor Professor Calculus]] in the ''{{ComicBook/Tintin}}'' comics, "[[Recap/TintinDestinationMoon Destination Moon]]" and "[[Recap/TintinExplorersOnTheMoon Explorers On The Moon]]", is propelled by slow-detonating nuclear fission explosions. The engine is made of "[[{{Unobtainium}} calculon]]", a silicon-based material that was invented by Calculus to withstand the radiation and extreme heat created by the explosions. The rocket also has chemical-fuelled rocket engines so that it can take off and land without polluting the surroundings with deadly nuclear fallout.
* In ''{{Franchise/Halo}}: Tales From Slipspace'', when the crew of the UNSC ''Nereid'' is stranded deep in space, Commander Coffey makes the suggestion to use the ship's nukes as a means of propulsion, based on early interstellar engines. [[spoiler:However, Major Tanris runs the math and discovers that the yield of their modern 26th century nukes far exceeds that of 22nd century Orion engines, meaning the explosion would actually destroy their entire ship. Coffey's real plan was to MercyKill everyone aboard rather than spend more weeks starving and fighting over dwindling resources.]]
* When ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' migrated into space, at one point they used a propulsion system that's basically powered by a strapped down Black Bolt shouting through an aperture into space opposite the direction they wanna travel. The physics of it are esoteric, because Black Bolt's power is ostensibly an absurdly powerful sonic scream, so it shouldn't work in space, but it has convoluted properties that make it technically not solely sonic, so it generates propulsive force they can use.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=][[spoiler:''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, Torgue Flexington unsurprisingly attempts to design a drive like this, but the board of his company scraps it.
* In the ''[[https://forums.serebii.net/threads/past-of-the-future-future-of-the-past.663310 "Past of the future, future of the past..."]]'' ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic, [[spoiler: [[MassTeleportation Soris Empire]] deploys the "Red Explorer" - an Orion battleship, converted from a partially assembled peaceful Mars exploration vessel and armed with [[NuclearOption many nuclear weapons]] - against the [[OlympusMons Rayquaza]].]] [[spoiler: [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu The "Red Explorer" wins]].]]
* In [[Fanfic/GoldfursStoriesAboutPonies Cosmic Lotus]], they use an orion drive to ''de''celerate after reaching a substation percentage of the speed of light due to being pushed by every unicorn in Canterlot.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* ''Film/DeepImpact'': The ''Messiah'' has an Orion Pulse Drive.
* In ''Film/EvacuateEarth'', the Horizon Project designs TheArk to use an Orion Drive. A private rival project attempted an {{Antimatter}} drive instead, but it exploded on the launchpad.

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
* In ''{{Literature/Footfall}}'', humanity uses a ground-launched Orion drive spaceship in a last ditch effort to fight off the invading aliens, as it's the only way to get sufficient firepower into the orbitals. A crew member of the ''Archangel Michael'' memorably described liftoff:

* ''Literature/OrionShallRise'', by Creator/PoulAnderson: has this as its central premise.
* In ''Literature/TheLandOfCrimsonClouds'' by the Creator/StrugatskyBrothers and its sequels this is called "photonic drive". A spaceship is semi-spherical, and its inner surface is covered with a super-mirror[[note]]"[[AppliedPhlebotinum Mezosubstance]]", probably consisting of atoms where electrons were replaced with heavier negative particles; this kind of substance is theorized to be much more durable than normal "electrosubstance", but nobody figured yet how to make it last even a microsecond.[[/note]] that reflects everything allowing to use the momentum of light for propulsion. So basically, thermonuclear explosions under the mirror drive the ship forward. In the sequels mirrors are thicker, engines are smaller, ramscoops appear, certain side effects are discovered at relativistic speeds. This eventually leads to CasualInterstellarTravel as seen in Literature/NoonUniverse proper.
* ''Literature/KingDavidsSpaceship'' by Creator/JerryPournelle: inhabitants of a planet that is to be re-admitted to the Empire plot to build the spaceship based on an Orion project concept in order to qualify their planet as a higher-developed, Class One Imperial world. However, this craft uses non-nuclear explosives.
* ''[[Literature/TheDraka The Stone Dogs]]'' by Creator/SMStirling: Orion spacecraft are created during an arms race between the Domination of the Draka and the Alliance for Democracy, and used by both sides in their explorations of the solar system and as warships. The drive itself features as an improvised weapon in the book, being used to keep other ships at a distance.
* ''The Shiva Option'': A ''Literature/{{Starfire}}'' novel by Creator/DavidWeber and Creator/SteveWhite: an arachnid homeworld is destroyed by converting several asteroids into Orion-drive starships and [[ColonyDrop launching them at it]].
** Humanity's allies, the pseudo-feline Orions, take the naming of the concept as an honour, not knowing the technology was imagined before humanity ever left Earth.
* ''Literature/{{Anathem}}'' by Creator/NealStephenson: features a spacecraft that travels between different dimensions and uses an Orion-style propulsion system. This ship, the Daban Urnud, is discovered by observing the nuclear explosions used to modify its orbit.
* ''Literature/{{Olympos}}'' by Creator/DanSimmons: describes an Orion-style spaceship, designed by the Moravec machine race to emulate 21st century human technology.
* Used by the ktrit'zal in ''Literature/JunctionPoint'' in order to escape the high gravity of their homeworld.
* ''Literature/{{Tricentennial}}'' by Creator/JoeHaldeman: featured the Daedelus (or John F. Kennedy, or Leonid Brezhnev - apparently spaceships are also prone to renaming), which was powered by nuclear bombs.
* ''Literature/MaroonedInRealtime'' by Creator/VernorVinge: [[DeflectorShields bobble technology]] makes this method of travel safe. Toss a timed nuke out of a spaceship, then activate a short-lived (and totally indestructible) bobble. The nuke will explode, shoving the bobbled ship away.
* ''Literature/{{Cepheide}}'' the 1981 anthology by Creator/TaisTeng describes a ship with Orion propulsion as one of the most primitive and wasteful methods of interstellar flight, still only achieved by a tiny minority of all intelligent races in the universe. The ship is said to be the last relic of an unknown race exterminated by the dominant [=YiYiki=] (descendants of the humpback whales).
* Creator/JohnVarley's ''Literature/EightWorlds'' series:
** In ''Literature/TheGoldenGlobe'', the wreck of an Orion spaceship is converted to an interstellar starship.
** ''Literature/SteelBeach'' sets several scenes near or within the bulk of the "Robert A. Heinlein," the aforementioned Orion-style ship, which was built and then abandoned when humanity lapsed into apathy for stellar exploration.
* ''Literature/TheHive'' by ChrisBerman: involves the use of a ground launched Orion spacecraft by the People's Republic of China in a gamble to reach an alien artifact in orbit between Jupiter and Saturn before the crew of a spacecraft built by the United States and Russia can reach it first.
* ''[[Literature/{{Flood}} Ark]]'' by Creator/StephenBaxter: a starship Ark One is built to save a small group of people as Earth drowns under a global flood. It launches and performs the first phase of its mission using a version of Orion. This version is ground launched though owing to the situation (the entire planet is about to drown anyway) environmental concerns are set aside.
* ''Literature/ManifoldSpace'', also by Creator/StephenBaxter, has the main character piloting an Orion craft to a [[PortalNetwork large blue ring]] situated just outside the Solar system.
* ''Project Orion: The Atomic Spaceship 1957-1965'' by George Dyson is a non-fiction book about the real research into Orion drives (see the RealLife section below). Dyson is the son of Freeman Dyson, who was involved in the project.
* In the ''Literature/GreatShip'' universe by Creator/RobertReed, the Orion Drive (referred to as a bomb drive) is a common form of propulsion where anti-matter or fusion rockets are too expensive or delicate. One of the main characters of ''Marrow'', Pamir, was the captain of a liner equipped with an ancient bomb-drive.
* In Creator/DanielKeysMoran's ''The Long Run'', the main character (Trent) in orbit around Luna is being chased by the bad guys. The pilot of his ship says that he is sure that they can get away, Trent says "Good", the pilot replies "Not really, it involves the Orion maneuver". Trent replies "Oh, no" to which the pilot responds "Oh, you have heard of it...".
* The basis of the space program in the ''Literature/{{Eldraeverse}}'', launched from a remote desert site to keep the fallout as low as possible. Even thousands of years after they switched to beanstalks that desert [[http://eldraeverse.com/2015/05/23/trope-a-day-orion-drive/ still]] glows in the dark.
* In one ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'' story, a Bolo is stranded in space after its transport is accidentally destroyed by friendly fire that was targeting an invasion fleet which also significantly damaged the tank itself. To get into action, the Bolo uses its Hellrails (Hellbores tasked specifically with shooting down spacecraft) to create what are effectively small-scale nuclear explosions to nudge it to where it needs to go.
* ''Literature/Aeon14'': In ''Destiny Lost'' and its POVSequel "Know Thy Enemy", an AST fleet starts detonating megaton-range hydrogen bombs against their DeflectorShields to try and escape a black hole's gravity well.
* Who would have beleived that in the last years of the 19th Century that you would find such a thing? In ''Literature/EdisonsConquestOfMars,'' a FanSequel to ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' published in 1898(!), the Martians retreat by detonating a bomb underneath their [[DropPod Cylinder,]] propelling them back home. Since they don't have a Space Launch Cannon like the one they used to invade with, they waste a lot of the energy, nescesitating that they use a bomb ''Capable of levelling the entirety of New York and New Jersey States!''
* ''Boomers'' by J. R. Dunn is an alternate history story where both the US and Soviets build Orion-drive 'boomer' spacecraft.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky": features a generation ship, constructed out of a hollowed-out iron asteroid, propelled using "Orion class nuclear pulse engines" in which fission bombs were detonated in shafts. It appeared to have been traveling for about 10,000 years, and had traveled about 30 light years on its own power. Unfortunately by the 23rd century one of the tubes is damaged (or the weapons used just plain malfunctioned during a course change) and the ship is on a collision cause with an inhabited planet. As such the Enterprise finds itself fighting to save both planets by correcting the ships course.
* ''Series/{{Virtuality}}'': Phaeton (Earth's first starship) is propelled by an Orion drive.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Space 1999}}'' titled "Voyager's Return," there was a nuclear pulse-drive probe called Voyager One. The dangerous nature of its drive is a plot point.
* Mentioned in Creator/CarlSagan's ''Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage'', as one possible design for a ship capable of crossing interstellar distances, along with the Daedalus (see below).
* The namesake GenerationShip in the miniseries ''[[Series/AscensionMiniseries Ascension]]'' is ([[spoiler:[[EarthAllAlong ostensibly]]]]) powered by this.

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'', the sleeper ship is propelled by an Orion-type drive (probably the laser-fusion variant), the shield of which fails (almost certainly due to sabotage--the ship's captain was also assassinated at the same time) when the ship is almost at its destination, causing the passengers on the colony ship to splinter into factions.
* Orion drives are available in a GameMod for ''Videogame/KerbalSpaceProgram'', one of which was [[http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/sealofapproval.php#id--Computer_Simulation--Kerbal_Space_Program--Orion_nuclear_pulse developed by the man]] behind the Atomic Rockets science fiction site, who detailed the struggles of coding one. On his first test fire of the drive with a 15kt warhead, the force of the explosion caused the command pod to blow off the top like an cork on a champagne bottle. When he changed the code to try to prevent this, the pod shot past the ''speed of light'' on the first test fire.
** In the base game it was possible to use large amounts of decouplers as an insanely powerful propulsion system.
** This also seems to be present in the sequel, at least based on the trailer.
* ''VideoGame/Aurora4X'', Nuclear Pulse Drive is the second tier of researchable engines. Subverted as its no different than any other engines including Antimatter drives.

* ''Website/{{Cracked}}.com'' mentions it in their article [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16631_5-retarded-space-travel-ideas-that-might-actually-work.html about space travel here.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Discussed in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', when the main cast is inadvertently trapped a few light-seconds away from Planet Jean with only one reactor (long-distance space travel requires two). Sam proposes an Orion drive in lieu of a second reactor, given the availability of a bombs factory that is largely inactive. Unfortunately, the two-reactor rule is for life support purposes rather than propulsion, and besides, the ''Savage Chicken'' isn't durable enough for more than one Orion pulse.

-->--''Website/{{Cracked}}'', [[https://www.cracked.com/article_16631_5-retarded-space-travel-ideas-that-might-actually-work.html "5 Idiotic Space Travel Ideas (That Might Actually Work)"]]

* Thermonuclear propulsion is commonplace in the [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Gundam “Universal Century” continuity]], used primarily for extremely massive vessels like space colonies, most notably the asteroid base Axis which used it to move freely throughout the solar system. [[AllThereInTheManual Officially]] it actually uses solid fuel pellets which are forced to undergo nuclear fusion with lasers or particle beams, but in the movie ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char’s Counterattack]]'', a nuclear warhead is actually detonated in the thruster cones of Axis in order to propel it on a [[ColonyDrop collision course]] for Earth.

A common form of [[MohsScaleOfScifiHardness harder scifi]] propulsion systems. See also ExplosionPropulsion.

* Discussed in ''Webcomic/Freefall'', when the main cast is inadvertently trapped a few light-seconds away from Planet Jean with only one reactor (long-distance space travel requires two). Sam proposes an Orion drive in lieu of a second reactor, given the availability of a bombs factory that is largely inactive. Unfortunately, the two-reactor rule is for life support purposes rather than propulsion, and besides, the ''Savage Chicken'' isn't durable enough for more than one Orion pulse.

* On several occasions, in the UC Gundam Series, some types of Propulsion systems are called "Nuclear Drives", for example the propulsion systems of the AXIS Asteroid.