Zis is not nuts, zis is super-nuts - Richard Courant on viewing an Orion test.
This is a fork of Sputnik's CVEL Orion, an interplanetary craft that moves by rapidly flinging small nuclear bombs behind itself. Orion was seriously considered in the 60s, but was deemed too problematic; while capable of high thrust and efficiency, the system requires heavy pusher plates, shock absorbers, and sturdy construction. The designs weighed in between 1 and 5 million metric tons, well beyond the capabilities of most conventional launchers. Orion is capable of getting to orbit on it's own with 800 bomblets, but the fallout would be the equivalent of a 10 megaton nuke.
Thankfully there are no nuclear test ban treaties in the simulator. The original CVEL Orion no longer works in orbiter 2010, however I have restored the 20 meter version and have been gradually enhancing it.New features
* Customizable vessel parameters and HUD colors (see config/vessels/orion/*.cfg)
* Improvements to the original model and texturing.
* HUD overlay menus providing documented keyboard control, and a ton of information.
* UMMU support, lighting, and remote EVA entry for all docking ports.
* 2 ports realigned to better accommodate ships such as the DeltaGlider
* Nuke disarming, arming safety locks, and yield selection.
* Preliminary COG shift compensation for RCS thrusters, using thrust attenuation. (z-axis for now).
* RCS: Visible thrusters and exhaust, thrust nerfed, isp and fuel increased - RCS is still a horrible gas guzzler, but the thing is 5,000,000kg so hey.
* Easter egg.
RequirementsOrbiter 2010p1, Orbitersound. Optional for one scenario: DeltaGliderIV