[LibWhacker]

An oldie but goodie.

[saganite]

A space based nuclear engine is exactly what we need for efficient space exploration. Barring that, a nuclear power source for deep space exploration would increase the power available for instruments on probes exponentially. Unfortunately the Prometheus project has been put on hold so we can fund another manned flight to the moon.

[pcottraux]

Ping.

[Rakkasan1]

cool.

we were making this awesome years ago yet we're supposed to believe we can't safely drill for oil in ANWR or use more nuclear power for the grid.

[Tennessee_Bob]

And Coors is still in the ceramics industry - has been for a long long time. Their beer sucks, but their technical ceramics rules :)

[NonValueAdded]

bump

[43north]

This is a prime example of "Just because you can build something doesn't mean that you should."

Still, this is how technology marches on.

[Sax]

...no way of guaranteeing that Pluto would not become a nuclear-powered juggernaut beyond its inventors' control -- a kind of airborne Frankenstein, a flying Chernobyl.

That would be a rather large "Oops."

[balch3]

This is thinly disguised environmentalist whacko propaganda, designed to make nuclear power seem dangerous in the sheeple's mind. If we had gone ahead with this weapon, no telling what kind of technology we would have today.

[G.Mason]

"There was, admits Hadley, no way of guaranteeing that Pluto would not become a nuclear-powered juggernaut beyond its inventors' control -- a kind of airborne Frankenstein, a flying Chernobyl."

That's right Hadley. Especially since Chernobyl would happen until April 1986.

[shekkian]

Ahh yes, those adventurous Cold War days.

[BadAndy]

Major TJ Kong- Well boys, we got three engines out, we got more holes in us than a horse trader's mule, the radio is gone and we're leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower why we'd need sleigh bells on this thing... but we got one little budge on those Roosskies. At this height why they might harpoon us but they dang sure ain't gonna spot us on no radar screen!

Major Kong was down to earth, smart, loyal, funny, brave, independant, and goal driven. The epitomy of a true American.

[Logophile]

For some at Livermore, a lingering nostalgia about Pluto remains. "It was the best six years of my life," says William Moran, who oversaw the production of the Tory fuel elements. Chuck Barnett, who directed the Tory tests, succinctly sums up the gung-ho spirit at the lab: "I was young. We had lots of money. It was very exciting."

Gung-ho indeed.

That was a time when men were men, women were women, and young American engineers found excitement developing exotic weaponry.

[lesser_satan]

I'm at a loss for words to describe how cool this is. Thanks for posting.

[Bender2]

Bump for later read...

[Billthedrill]

Even before it began dropping bombs on our enemies Pluto would have deafened, flattened, and irradiated our friends.

Some people have no sense of humor whatever.

A fun article but filled with anachronisms. We didn't have TERCOM radar in 1957.

[kaktuskid]

There was a plan to use nuclear weapons to excavate for I-40 in Arizona and California

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

If someone were indeed serious about wanting to revive Pluto, he would probably find some ready recruits at Livermore. But not many. What was once the weapon from hell now seems an idea best left dead and buried.

[6ppc]

I thought "flying crowbars" was Project Thor...never heard of this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

[TalonDJ]

A nuclear-powered bomber never got off the runway after the Air Force started advertising for pilots past child-rearing age.

Not entirely accurate. The bomber was canceled because the cost benefit analysis was unfavorable. Nuclear power bombers were on the drawing board that could have flown around the world without stopping several times. But what is the point of that? Normal bombers could already fly to the target and back at much lower cost per flight hour. The only useful roll for a plane that could fly for days or even weeks on end would have been as an orbiting nuclear platform. Something like a flying ballistic missile sub only loaded with nuclear cruise missiles. Except that compared to a sub it would have been easy to track and shoot down as soon as war started. Subs were cheaper for the same strategic role and could linger much longer undetected. THAT was what killed the atomic airplanes. There was simply no use for them. And this was a SAFE design. It was a closed nuclear system that did not leak radiation.