"Every kid who has put a firecracker under a tin can understands the principle of using high explosives to loft an object into space. What was novel to scientists at Los Alamos [the atomic laboratory in New Mexico] was the idea of using an atomic bomb as propellant. That strategy was the serendipitous result of an experiment that had gone somewhat awry."

The Pascal-C launcher was inspired by the story of Dr. Bob Brownlee's 1957 experimental underground nuclear test (Pascal-B) which detonated a nuclear explosive at the bottom of a 500 meter shaft and resulted in the acceleration of a projectile to an estimated velocity of 56 km/sec.

The Pascal-C Launcher has test launched a projectile (a cockpit) to a max speed of 32,696 MPH with a peak altitude of 35,804,508 feet. Graphic effects had to be disabled during testing as leaving them on caused a crash during detonation.

Activate group 1 to initiate the detonation sequence. There will be a 5 second countdown. You will start hearing funny noises around 4 seconds followed by a large explosion. As configured the projectile will reach an altitude of 16,570 feet in 8/10th's of a second and 35,804,508 feet in 24 minutes 57 seconds.