Project Orion Historical Context Chart This image is s part of my Historical Project Orion series, see part one here. Part Two here: Right Before I wanted to illustrate the distinct design era’s to Orion – the pre U.S. Air Force and subsequent NASA evolution, what I would call the General Atomics Legacy vision of Orion, which produced the big, robust, massive (and massively capable) ground-launch interplanetary designs – and the post U.S. Air Force and NASA involvement, which saw development of the ten and twenty meter designs intended for launch via Saturn V and the up-rated Saturn 1C booster, along with the Air Force application Orbital Battleship. The General Atomics Legacy vision of Orion would have landed two 4,000 ton Interplanetary Class Orion’s on Mars, each with a mission crew of fifty and sufficient supplies and equipment to sustain an exploration effort several years in duration, allowing for extensive scientific returns on the mission. Nothing about Orion involved thinking small: crew accommodations were to be individual, well appointed staterooms, along with lounges, dining halls, movie theaters, and staff conference rooms -- all outfitted with commercial-weight furnishings – life aboard Orion would likely have resembled life aboard one of today’s nuclear powered air-craft carriers. Freeman Dyson saw Orion as standing in the role of spreading human life beyond the surface of the earth – and colonization was defiantly part of this vision. Orion was never intended as a one-use throw-away vehicle, the returning ships could be refurbished and re-launched, it was a vehicle designed with long-term commitment to space exploration in mind. As always, thank you all for your thoughtful comments, interest, and encouragement.