Starfish Prime - The US oopsie so big that the world agreed no more detonation of nuclear weapons should be done in space.

floofloof , 1 month ago

The story of the man being blinded in an instant by the reflection of a bomb 250 miles away is pretty terrifying. Also the way the USA decided it would be a useful tool for blinding entire enemy populations and crippling their infrastructure. I wonder whether they still plan to do that.

phoenixz , 1 month ago

Count on it. Anything that can be used to subdue “the enemy” will at least be on a list of possible weapons

A_A , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

“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.”
“… these man-made radiation belts eventually caused six or more satellites to fail …” (9 satellite failed in total)

“Estimates for (…) excess deaths (…) have likely amounted to between 10,000 and 100,000.”
“Estimates for (…) overall excess death impact of thousands of above-ground tests have likely amounted to between 10,000 and 100,000.”
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

jaspersgroove , 1 month ago

That excess deaths number is the total for all above-ground nuclear bomb tests ever done combined.

A_A , 1 month ago

Yes, I cut the text so much that it became misleading. Thanks for the clarification.

FlyingSquid , 1 month ago

Which, unfortunately, includes armies being ordered to march into blast zones while the mushroom cloud was still in the sky, so it’s not a very useful metric.

Deceptichum , 1 month ago

I’ve exploded hemp every night without issue?

RisingSwell , 1 month ago

Man if you’re exploding it I think you’re doing it wrong

Sterile_Technique , 1 month ago

Don’t be so judgy, bro!

lights fuse

gnate , 1 month ago

It’s OK if you don’t inhale.