#operation hardtack

[thegodofhellfire]

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

The RB-57D also collected data from US nuclear tests. Here is one aircraft captured during the Juniper test, which was part of Operation Hardtack, July 1958.

[mellowchouchou]

Visit Original Link

William T. Stromberg | Operation Hardtack/Teak and Orange Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)

[ghettogether]

B-57 Canberra at Operation Hardtack (9.3 Mt nuclear bomb, 1958)

[spaceplasma]

The debris fireball and aurora created by the Hardtack Teak test

HARDTACK-Teak was an exoatmospheric high altitude nuclear weapon test performed during Operation Hardtack I. On 1 August 1958, the 3.8 Mt shot detonated at an altitude of 76.8 km. Teak caused communications impairment over a widespread area in the Pacific basin. This was due to the injection of a large quantity of fission debris into the ionosphere. The debris prevented normal ionospheric reflection of high-frequency (HF) radio waves back towards Earth, which disrupted most long-distance HF radio communications.

While an atmospheric nuclear explosion has a characteristic mushroom-shaped cloud, high-altitude and space explosions tend to manifest a spherical 'cloud,' reminiscent of other space-based explosions until distorted by Earth's magnetic field, and the charged particles resulting from the blast can cross hemispheres to create an auroral display which has led documentary maker Peter Kuran to characterize these detonations as 'the rainbow bombs'. The visual effects of a high-altitude or space-based explosion may last longer than atmospheric tests, sometimes in excess of 30 minutes.

[spaceplasma]

9.3 megatons Hardtack-Poplar nuclear fireball (1958). This was the fifth largest nuclear explosion in U.S. history.

Nuclear explosions emit large amounts of thermal radiation as visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light, to which the atmosphere is largely transparent. This is known as "Flash".

About 5% of the energy released in a nuclear air burst is in the form of ionizing radiation: neutrons, gamma rays, alpha particles and electrons moving at speeds up to the speed of light. Gamma rays are high energy electromagnetic radiation; the others are particles that move slower than light. The neutrons result almost exclusively from the fission and fusion reactions, while the initial gamma radiation includes that arising from these reactions as well as that resulting from the decay of short-lived fission products.

The intensity of initial nuclear radiation decreases rapidly with distance from the point of burst because the radiation spreads over a larger area as it travels away from the explosion (the inverse squared law). It is also reduced by atmospheric absorption and scattering.

[spaceplasma]

'Hardtack Umbrella' underwater nuclear test

Operation HARDTACK I consisted of 35 nuclear tests conducted at the Pacific Proving Ground between April 28 and August 18, 1958. These tests included balloon, surface, barge, underwater, and rocket-borne high-altitude tests.

Umbrella was a DOD sponsored weapons effects test for a medium depth underwater explosion. A Mk-7 bomb was used for the test (30 inches in diameter, 54 inches long, device weight 825 lb.) in a heavy pressure vessel (total weight 7000 lb.). Very similar to the Wahoo device. The device was detonated on the lagoon bottom NNE of Mut (Henry) Island. An underwater crater 3000 feet across and 20 feet deep was produced.

The purpose of these tests was to improve the understanding of the effects of underwater explosions on Navy ships and material.

Watch the video

[followmeimthatwhiterabbit]

Water column looks unbelievable. When i watched, my jaw dropped...

Operation Hardtack I: 

Test: Umbrella

Time: 23:15 8 June 1958 (GMT)

11:15 9 June 1958 (local)

Location: Enewetak lagoon

Test Height and Type: Underwater, -150 feet

Yield: 8 kt

Umbrella was a DOD sponsored weapons effects test for a medium depth underwater explosion. A Mk-7 bomb was used for the test (30 inches in diameter, 54 inches long, device weight 825 lb.) in a heavy pressure vessel (total weight 7000 lb.). Very similar to the Wahoo device. The device was detonated on the lagoon bottom NNE of Mut (Henry) Island. An underwater crater 3000 feet across and 20 feet deep was produced.