The Orion Project

Found the coolest launch method ever. Imagine going to space, riding on the backs of hundreds of nuclear bombs! A project, named Orion, ran from 1957 - 1964. The 1963 Test Ban Treaty heralded its demise.

Could such a project be resurrected? Maybe, if the bombs were to be detonated above the magnetosphere. The biggest problem with the system under the Orion Project is the fallout from radiation, and the electro-magnetic pulse. EMP was dramatically, maybe poorly, portrayed in a certain movie about the greater Kansas City area getting nuked.

Notwithstanding the undesirable health effects of radiation, international law, and a general global alarm if a whole lot of bombs were to go off in succession, this kind of propulsion system would be really handy to get off earth quickly.