50th Anniversary of the Starfish Prime Nuclear Weapon Test Today

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 9, 2012 @05:17AM from the big-boom dept.

The Bad Astronomer writes "50 years ago today, the U.S. detonated a nuclear weapon 240 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Called Starfish Prime, it was supposed to help U.S. scientists and the military understand how the Soviets might try to stop incoming nuclear missiles. What it actually did was blow out hundreds of streetlights in Hawaii 900 miles away, damage a half dozen satellites, and create artificial aurorae and intense radiation zones above the Earth. It taught the world what an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) was, and what the effects might be from a powerful solar flare, a nearby supernova, or a gamma-ray burst."

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Re:Sounds like fun! by Quiet_Desperation · 2012-07-09 05:23 · Score: 5, Funny

I know!

What it actually did was blow out hundreds of streetlights in Hawaii 900 miles away, damage a half dozen satellites, and create artificial aurorae and intense radiation zones above the Earth.
Sounds like a successful test to me. :-) Assuming they were testing for AWESOMENESS!
"Are you sure this is safe?" by saveferrousoxide · 2012-07-09 05:31 · Score: 5, Funny

"Sir...We're hundreds miles from anything...what could possibly go wrong?"
Re:Sounds like fun! by metalgamer84 · 2012-07-09 06:50 · Score: 5, Funny

Dinosaurs aren't real, they were just made up to discourage time travelers.