> Hmmm... serious people thought Orion (nuclear rockets propelled by
> bombs exploded under their tails) could be made to work; was that
> because the shield itself was expected to liquefy, but to shield the
> rest of the structure from the worst of the effects?
There is no attenuation in vacuum, so a nearby nuke exploding
evaporates a surface layer, which drives the structure in opposite
direction (actio!=reactio).
Everything in the atmosphere is different.