A little too close for comfort

[dennilfloss]

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

I'm Still Standing (Elton John)

 

[bonk102]

wow, interesting pic

 

[syzygy]

looking at that pic, does anyone esle think those spectators are a just a
wee bit too close to the nuclear explosion ?
if you had any questions about the military's concern for your physical
safety, this pic should help cure your doubts

 

[ltk007]

What idiots!

 

[osage]

So how many of those GIs in the pic do you suppose are still alive ? I wonder.

 

[Pastore]

This is what i call a nuke, that is amazing how you can see the shockwaves coming towards the camera...

damn we tested a lot of nukes in the 50's...

 

[Dedpuhl]

I had to read the responses before clickin' on the picture

 

[dennilfloss]

Beast,

You must be joking! Both Ables were a 1kT shot, the smallest the US did. The kind of tactical weapon designed to stop a tank advance. More dramatic but not as efficient or environmentally friendly as an enhanced radiation weapon (aka neutron bomb).

"Test: Ranger Able
Time: 13:45 27 January 1951 (GMT)
5:45 27 January 1951 (local)
Location: Frenchman Flat (NTS), Nevada
Test Height and Type: 1060 foot Air Burst
Yield: 1 kt

The Able device was a compression vs critical mass test using an all-oralloy core. Used a type D pit, in a Mk 4 high explosive assembly. A yield of 1.3 kt was predicted before the shot. This test configuration was used again repeatedly in weapon effects tests in later years when an accurate, predictable 1 kt yield was desired."

"Test: Tumbler Able
Time: 17:00 1 April 1952 (GMT)
09:00 1 April 1952 (local)
Location: Nevada Test Site (NTS), Area 5
Test Height and Type: 793 Foot Airdrop from B-50
Yield: 1 kt


This device used the same U-235 core design first tested in Ranger Able. This design had become something of an experimental benchmark due to its convenient low yield and high predictability, having also been used in Jangle Sugar and Jangle Uncle. The Mk 4 based test device weighed 10,800 lb."

Your pic is Tumbler Able.


THAT is a test, 8.9MT.

As for my previous pic, that is the Dog shot of Operation Buster/Jangle.

"Test: Dog
Time: 15:30 1 November 1951 (GMT)
7:30 1 November 1951 (local)
Location: Nevada Test Site (NTS), Area 7
Test Height and Type: 1417 Foot Airdrop from B-50
Yield: 21 kt

The test device, designated "NF", was a Mk 4 bomb assembly of a composite uranium-plutonium core. The expected yield was 18-25 kt.

Desert Rock I - the first U.S. nuclear field exercise on land was conducted in association with the Dog shot. In the weeks before the shot the assembled troops (from the 188th Airborne, 127th Engineer Battalion, and the 546th Field Artillery Battalion) dug field emplacements to simulate a defensive deployment southwest of the shot location. The troops observed the shot from a point six miles from ground zero, were transported to the defensive emplacements to view the weapon effects, and then conducted maneuvers in the area. Since this shot was an airburst there was no local fallout, although some neutron-induced radioactivity existed."

Dog also
More Dog


Some Like It Hot (Power Station)