The ORION Project

The ORION project or the Spartan I program was the phase one of the Spartan Supersoldier program. Initiated in 2491, as an element of the ORION project not much is known about the first generation of warriors (their training, augmentation, goals, etc.).

The original Spartan Project was created to test genetic enhancements on soldiers. These enhancements were the precursors to the genetic enhancements used in the Spartan-II program. The mortality rate for those injected was high, this contributed to the failure of the program. Those who survived the injection(s) had a greatly increased rate of mental problems later on in life. It is not known at this time how many soldiers participated in this program, however it is mentioned that there are several offspring. Some of which were chosen for the Spartan-II program, others banded together to fight the Covenant.

Known Participants

 * Jim James (original name James Lee)
 * Gilly James
 * Sergeant Avery Johnson* probable see Halo Graphic Novel Pg122

However they were successful enough to garner the necessary consent and funding for a second phase, aptly named SPARTAN II.

Trivia
Project Orion was also a Spacecraft program in the Real world. It was the first engineering design study of spacecraft powered by nuclear pulse propulsion, an idea first proposed by Stanislaw Ulam in 1947. Nuclear Pulse propulsion involves detonating a nuclear explosion under a craft and the force of the blast actually forces the craft along. The project, initiated in the 1950s, was led by a team of engineers and physicists from General Atomics and included well known academics.

By using energetic nuclear power, Orion offered both high thrust and high Specific impulse — the holy grail of spacecraft propulsion. It offered performance greater than the most advanced conventional or nuclear rocket engines now under study. Cheap interplanetary travel was the goal of the Orion Project. Its supporters felt that it had great potential for space travel, but it lost political approval because of concerns with fallout from its propulsion. The Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 is generally acknowledged to have ended the project.