So… did Vi see the pushplate or something? Certainly she had some domain specific expertise that could have helped if that was how she figured it out.
Project Orion schematic with push plate, tiny hole for nukes to shoot out the back, and shock absorbers to smooth out the pushes.
I would vaguely imagine that there might be coverings over this stuff, to protect from atmospheric turbulence during the first rocket stage, and such coverings might not let it be obvious what the design was by direct inspection of the ship.
My other guess for how she figured it out is just “the objective function was kinda dumb”, but maybe it took a while for the penny to drop? Like, why would you EVER turn off “protect Earth from environmental damage” part way through the mission?!?
So… did Vi see the pushplate or something? Certainly she had some domain specific expertise that could have helped if that was how she figured it out.
I would vaguely imagine that there might be coverings over this stuff, to protect from atmospheric turbulence during the first rocket stage, and such coverings might not let it be obvious what the design was by direct inspection of the ship.
My other guess for how she figured it out is just “the objective function was kinda dumb”, but maybe it took a while for the penny to drop? Like, why would you EVER turn off “protect Earth from environmental damage” part way through the mission?!?