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High-altitude nuclear explosions are the result of nuclear weapons testing within the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and in outer space. Several such tests were performed at high altitudes by the United States and the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1962.
The material intercepted by high altitude winds will continue to travel. When a radiation cloud at high altitude is exposed to rainfall, the radioactive fallout will contaminate the downwind area below. [37] Agricultural fields and plants will absorb the contaminated material and animals will consume the radioactive material.
In military terminology, a nuclear warhead detonated tens to hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface is known as a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) device. Effects of a HEMP device depend on factors including the altitude of the detonation, energy yield , gamma ray output, interactions with the Earth's magnetic field and ...
A fearsome aftereffect of nuclear blasts is fallout, which is a complex mixture of fission products (or radioisotopes) created by splitting atoms. ... because it would be carried by high-altitude ...
The next danger to avoid is radioactive fallout: a mixture of fission products (or radioisotopes) that a nuclear explosion creates by splitting atoms. Nuclear explosions loft this material high ...
Starfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency. It was launched from Johnston Atoll on July 9, 1962, and was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space, and one of five conducted by the US in space.
The high-altitude nuclear tests delivered the first openly reported man-made high-altitude electromagnetic pulses (EMP). Teak, which was detonated at 252,000 feet (76.8 km) and was 3.8 megatons of TNT (16 PJ), produced an aurora-like effect that was visible from Hawaii, 700 nautical miles (810 mi; 1,300 km) displaced from the detonation. Most ...
Photograph of the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test explosion in course of Operation Dominic on July 9, 1962. (US Govt. Defense Threat Reduction Agency/Wikimedia Commons) On the night of ...