Nuclear Bomb Test in Space: Operation Fishbowl

Bringing the end of World War II nuclear bombs, brought a great disaster, but when we consider the bombs that came after, we see that these bombs are actually very weak. The Tsar Bomb of the Soviet Union is a very good example of this. However, not only the size of the bomb is important, but also where it is thrown.

On the night of July 9, 1962, much of the Pacific Ocean was illuminated, from Hawaii to New Zealand. It wasn’t a meteor or some other natural event that did it. of the USA Starfish Prime This flare, which was a result of the high-altitude nuclear bomb test, brought with it many problems. Known as Operation Fishbowl, this event also forced the US government to make a choice.

Operation Fishbowl was initiated by the United States, which wanted to respond to the USSR’s tests.

czar bomb images

After the use of nuclear bombs in World War II, both the USA and the USA until the 1960s. Soviet Union He remained silent on this matter. Although atmospheric nuclear weapons tests were carried out at first, the tests were interrupted for a long time. This changed in 1961 with the testing of the Tsar Bomb, which still remains the USSR’s most powerful nuclear weapon to this day.

Seeing that the USSR was ahead in nuclear armament, the USA started some nuclear test projects. Operation Fishbowl was one of them. In this test, the United States would explode a nuclear bomb in space and create an artificial radiation belt.

Radiation belts around the Earth had just been discovered.

When the dates came to 1958, a physicist named James A. Van Allen was no longer present today. “The Van Allen Generation” He discovered the radiation belts, which are considered to be radiation belts. The US Department of Defense thought that a nuclear bomb to be sent to this region could also provide military defense by creating an artificial radiation belt.

There were opponents before the explosion, but the US Department of Defense stated that the controls were carried out.

The bomb’s area of ​​effect would be very large, so the project was not hidden. In fact, it was the most watched experiment in history until that time. in the media “Rainbow Bomb” This explosion, which was introduced as a blast, was criticized by the famous mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell, but few people took what Russell said seriously.

In fact, in this process, the US Department of Defense said that they had done a risk analysis of the situation and that there was nothing to worry about. “in a few days or a few weeks” They said it would be back to normal.

The Starfish Prime Nuclear Explosion did occur, but the results were different from what was predicted.

The launch is located 1,287 kilometers west of Hawaii. Johnston Islandtook place in. Starfish PrimeLaunched at around 11:00 PM, it exploded approximately 13 minutes later, about 400 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean.

1.45 megaton bomb, When it exploded, the clouds at first experienced a great enlightenment. There was no sound, only light at this point. When the particles from the bomb began to enter the atmosphere, green and red light beams began to form in the sky. These were the expected effects, but there were also effects that turned out to be different from what was planned.

The explosion caused serious material damage to the area.

Hawaii’s power grid after the explosion electromagnetic pulse went under. In this wave, which spread in waves, the fuses in the electricity poles of the region blew, and the burglar alarms began to sound. When phone lines are down Electrical devices such as television and radio did not work either.

It also caused serious damage in space.

The explosion caused damage not only on the Earth’s surface, but also in outer space. Of the 21 satellites in orbit at that time, 7 were disabled, and the Earth’s magnetic field It deviated 1/3 degree for 30 minutes.

The claim of the US Department of Defense that “it will take a few days for the area to return to normal” was different from the estimates. It took months for this area to return to normal, and the radiation belt formed as a result of the explosion for 10 years had continued to exist. This generation was even stronger than the Van Allen generations.

The USA realized that this was a mistake and made a choice.

The US government would either continue to test nuclear bombs in space or continue to develop satellite technology. There was no way they could do both at the same time. For this reason the President John F Kennedy, In 1963, he signed the “Partial Nuclear Test Prevention Agreement” with the Soviet Union.

If we try to drop another bomb on this area, it will include orbiting TV, phone, GPS, weather forecast, internet. We will also lose many important satellites. This will cause very difficult wounds in the global economy.