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Emile and his team then finished the animatics and began to R&D the major effects in the series, including the “Firefly effect.” That effect is our version of the old NASA Daedalus project, which was a concept designed to propel spaceships by detonating nuclear bombs behind the ships, sending them off at sub-light speed. (Our version permits Serenity to use a variety of elements to propel itself, not just nukes.)

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Project Orion:
The first example is from the 1950’s-60’s, Project Orion - which offered to use nuclear bombs for a constructive purpose -- space travel. About 5 bombs per second are dropped out the back and detonated to propel the craft along. A huge shock plate with shock absorbers make up the base of the craft.

Project Daedalus, British Interplanetary Society:
In the late 1970’s the British Interplanetary Society revisited the Orion propulsion concept, but at a more reasonable scale and for in-space use only. In this case it used micro fusion explosions which relied on obtaining the appropriate fuel isotope from Jupiter that it scooped up on its way out of the solar system.

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