20000021516
Executive Summary
System Metadata
Source ID
DOC-NASA_EPP
Process Date
2/3/2026
Integrity Hash
SHA256-rjbd3f68evn...
Indexer Status
COMPLETE
INVESTIGATIVE ANALYSIS
Layman's Executive Summary
This document explores a propulsion concept called External Pulsed Plasma Propulsion (EPPP), which uses small nuclear pulses to push a spacecraft at high speeds. It argues that this technology, based on the older Project ORION, is the most realistic way to achieve human travel beyond Mars and protect Earth from asteroids using existing physics.
Document Origin
The document was authored by J. A. Bonometti, P. J. Morton, and G. R. Schmidt from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), specifically the TD40 division in Alabama.
Research Purpose
The research aimed to identify a high-performance propulsion system that is technically feasible and affordable within the 21st century's fiscal constraints. It sought to solve the problem of current advanced concepts (like fusion or antimatter) being decades away from practical application while meeting NASA's strategic goals for deep-space human exploration.
Relevancy Analysis
" This document provides a critical link between 1960s 'black' aerospace programs like Project ORION and modern NASA research into high-energy propulsion. It highlights how political suppression, rather than technical failure, halted nuclear pulse research, and connects directly to the investigation of fusion and fission-based propulsion systems currently tracked in the Knowledge Graph. The mention of specific momentum transfer mechanisms and plasma wave energy aligns with advanced Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) and pulsed-power research. "
Extracted Verifiable Claims
- › Project ORION was an Air Force program that operated between 1958 and 1965 with a budget of approximately $8 million over its first six years.
- › The EPPP propulsion concept can theoretically achieve a specific impulse (Isp) of approximately 10,000 seconds and 1 to 10 g accelerations.
- › Project ORION vehicle designs proposed diameters ranging from 10 to 30 meters to maximize pusher plate efficiency.
- › NASA funded additional studies into nuclear pulse propulsion until the effort was terminated in 1965 for primarily political reasons.
Technical Contribution
This document introduces 'GABRIEL,' a modern evolutionary framework for EPPP that updates 1960s nuclear pulse technology for contemporary space exploration and planetary defense.