www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/10/project-orion-powered-by-atomic-bomb.html
See the animation, with one more Mars Mission free:
Atk 
New Project Orion Takeoff
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December 2, 2009 at 2:18 pm
while a nuclear reactor powered space craft could be feasable, an atomic bomb would just be silly. Ignoring the ammount of radiation sheilding needed, detonating an atomic bomb that close to earth would generate an EMP that would be very bad for not only the ship itself, but for everyone on earth.
December 2, 2009 at 2:32 pm
unnnnnnnnnnnnng these aerospace posts have got to end
December 2, 2009 at 3:20 pm
@TGGeko
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of atomic and fusion bombs have been detonated on, near and above the Earth with little measurable long-term affect.
It was calculated that for every Orion-type launch there would be increase in the world-wide cancer rate of approximately one.
December 2, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Back from wikipedia:
The US has tested 1,151 nuclear devices. The Soviet Union 969. An Orion-type launch would require about 800 nuclear explosion of about .15 kilotons each. That’s less than one percent of the strength of Little Boy.
Stuff like the radiation shielding was already built and tested in the ’60s. They even had a working test model that used conventional explosives.
Orion would have been awesome. The Super Orion design would have been able to launch an 8 million ton payload. You could launch an entire city to anywhere in the solar system.