In the 1950s, fear of nuclear-armed Soviet bombers led to the creation by the US military of the Genie rocket. Fired from an American or Canadian fighter jet, the Genie had no guidance system. It merely had to be aimed at a Soviet bomber and the 1.7 kiloton nuclear warhead – packing the equivalent of 1700 tonnes of TNT – took care of the rest. The 100kg warhead was used … [Read more...] about Five volunteers bathed in nuclear bomb light: see video below
Nuclear
The men who stood under an air-borne nuclear explosion
Fifty-nine years ago this week, five US military men stood directly under the detonation point of an atomic bomb test. Code-named ‘John’, the 1.7 kiloton warhead exploded 5000 metres above them in the Nevada desert, bathing them in bright light. The sixth volunteer filmed them. All six developed cancer in their 40s and 50s. Four soon died. The story of the test is from the … [Read more...] about The men who stood under an air-borne nuclear explosion