Re:Non-chemical rockets (Score 1)

The pulse detonation model was initially proposed by those good ol' boys back in the fifties (Project Orion, see below for link) as a cheap means to reach space. It was proposed that a shell of heavy metal be built and nukes would be released beneath it to get a ship to orbit. This was quashed by the first nuclear proliferation treaties. It is sad that it was quashed, however, as it would have provided the most efficient space travel in history. The problem with the current models of PD is that you can't use gyro's to stabilize a vertically moving PD vehicle in a gravity well as influential as that of Earth's. Also, it is a supersonic jet, above and beyond what the Xraces are looking for, same as NASA's Hyper-X (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4115156.stm). The link for Orion is: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/O/OrionP roj.html