SpaceBanter.com - View Single Post - Modern Sci-Fi - the enslavement of scientific reality to religious delusion

**Wayne Throop**

:: It illustrates the folly of an inappropriate definition of "efficiency".

: h (Rand Simberg)
: Which one is the "right" one depends on what one is trying to
: optimize. There is no obvious correct answer. Unfortunately, one of
: the reasons that launch is so expensive is that engineers focus on
: technical measures of efficiency (e.g., the Isp of the SSME) instead
: of on cost efficiency.

Yes, dollars in per similar goal out is almost always the right one.
I don't see that nuclear pulse propulsion is markedly worse than
alternatives. It is politicaly unacceptable, and a PR nightmare
in the current social climate, and arguably has unacceptable
environmental impact in some uses, and that's part of the "almost always".
But I don't see those as "efficiency" issues in this case.

Wayne Throop http://sheol.org/throopw