Being a hoarder of Wikipedia articles is fun and all until someone unwittingly says "I hate the moon, I wish I could blow it up or smth" and I go
"Hahaha lollllll you're so funny 😄😋............. 👁️👁️
Hey did you know that in May 1958, ARF began covertly researching the potential consequences of a nuclear explosion on the Moon? The main objective of the program, running under the auspices of the United States Air Force which had initially proposed it, was to cause a nuclear explosion that would be visible from Earth. It was hoped that such a display would boost the morale of the American people.[4]
At the time of the project's conception, newspapers were reporting a rumor that the Soviet Union was planning to detonate a hydrogen bomb on the Moon. According to press reports in late 1957, an anonymous source had divulged to a United States Secret Service agent that the Soviets planned to commemorate the anniversary of the October Revolution by causing a nuclear explosion on the Moon to coincide with a lunar eclipse on 7 November. News reports of the rumored launch included mention of targeting the dark side of the terminator—Project A119 would also consider this boundary as the target for an explosion. It was also reported that a failure to hit the Moon would likely result in the missile returning to Earth.[5]
A similar idea had been put forward by Edward Teller, the "father of the H-bomb", who, in February 1957, proposed the detonation of nuclear devices both on and some distance from the lunar surface to analyze the effects of the explosion.[6]"
And then the group chat is just reaaaaaaaally quiet 😂😅
