Does Not Illustrate: Orion Drive

This pic shows nothing to distinguish this rocket from any other. I would argue that this trope can't be pictured, unless perhaps one where the flame at the back is a mushroom cloud.

edited 31st May '13 2:46:20 AM by Yinyang107

Motion to pull; that doesn't look like an Orion drive but like a regular one.

(That's what I meant, but in less-precise language.)

Eh, I don't think it's that bad. Keep Until Better Image Suggested.

EDIT: Huh...the pic is this◊ rotated and flipped.

edited 31st May '13 4:17:46 AM by Willbyr

GIS yields this◊. Basically exactly the sort of "only this would work" pic I mentioned.

A smaller version◊.

edited 31st May '13 4:22:25 AM by Yinyang107

Much better.

That's better than the current, though the current still clearly shows an explosion behind a rear shield on the ship.

AFAIK, the key aspect of an Orion drive is that the ship is moved not just by explosions, but by nukes. Personally I see the current pic and just think "spaceship."

x4 Marginally better.

edited 31st May '13 6:05:48 AM by Willbyr

I actually like the current. It's pretty clearly being moved by an explosion, which is presumably nuclear since in space they're circular.

I don't see what's wrong with the current either - that's pretty clearly a blast shield, not a nozzle, and an explosion, not a jet of flame.

"They don't necessarily have to be nuclear, but they need to have the equivalent explosive power." From the description. Power matters, not how it's created. If it was some anti-matter or magical explosion of equivalent size, it would still qualify.

I'm really good with either.

edited 31st May '13 6:40:53 AM by AnotherDuck

The proof-of-concept prototype used ordinary explosives, for what that's worth.

Your friendly neighbourhood image-manipulator is here. :-)

This is 5.1, cropped and shrunk to size.

http://imgur.com/vIvSnYp

Looks good.

Since it seems likely it will be used, it's now uploaded.

The main reason I like using 350 px tall as a guideline/max, especially if legibility is not an issue, is that it makes tall images about the same size overall as wide images. (And it's better if layout and "screen real estate use" is similar/consistent from page to page.)

=

edited 31st May '13 2:20:47 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Agree with the crop of 5.1.

If we're going to to a new pic, then 18.1 works well enough.

That's the best of that one. I'm still neutral compared to the current, though.

18.1 is good

I think I slightly prefer current, honestly.

The current might look cool, but it doesn't clearly illustrate the trope (since it looks mostly like a regular rocket). The suggested image doesn't have that issue, hence it's superior.

18 is a good image. It gets my approval.