Britain's Blackstar (a prequel)

[n_kitson]

Well, seems like the Brits loaded up on the silly juice as well. Link. Wonder if they added some Boron-sauce to the reactor? <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <br /><font color="yellow"><br />British Rail flying saucer plan <br />A Channel Tunnel or tilting train may once have seemed far-fetched, but these plans were grounded compared to British Rail proposals to use flying saucers. <br />Recently uncovered plans show bosses filed for a patent in 1970 for a spacecraft powered by "controlled thermonuclear fusion reaction". <br /><br />With a passenger compartment upstairs, it would have been cheap to run and super-fast, according to its inventor. <br /><br />The proposals were recently found on the European Patent Office website. <br /><br />The original patent application said the reaction would be "ignited by one or more pulsed laser beams". <br /><br />The application was made on behalf of the British Railways Board and the patent was granted in March 1973. <br /><br />A patent document reads: "The present invention relates to a space vehicle. More particularly it relates to a power supply for a space vehicle which offers a source of sustained thrust for the loss of a very small mass of fuel. <br /><br />"Thus it would enable very high velocities to be attained in a space vehicle and in fact the prolonged acceleration of the vehicle may in some circumstances be used to simulate gravity." <br /><br />But, it seems, the patent later lapsed because of non-payment of renewal fees, while the spaceship - the invention of Charles Osmond Frederick - clearly never materialised.<br /></font>/safety_wrapper>