 Theoretically, it could be scaled down to far smaller explosions, and require small shock absorbers.From 1957 to 1964 this information was used to design a spacecraft propulsion system called Orion, in which nuclear explosives would be thrown behind a pusher-plate mounted on the bottom of a spacecraft and exploded.The shock wave and radiation from the detonation would impact against the underside of the pusher plate, giving it a powerful push.