nuclear-news

Project COW – USA’s bright idea to bomb the moon

A nuclear flash point, Deccan Herald,  Jan, 1, 2013: BOMBING THE MOON
Recent reports suggest that during the heydays of the Cold War, the
United States planned to bomb the moon so that the nuclear flash would
intimidate rival powers. In reality, the gravitational binding energy
of the moon is about ten to the power of 29 Joules, the minimal energy
needed for it to blow up. This is equal to the nuke power released by
trillions of Hiroshima-type bombs, writes C Sivaram.

Recent reports refer to a Cold War secret project wherein the United
States planned to undertake lunar flights to drop an atomic bomb on
the moon so that the nuclear flash seen from the earth would
intimidate rival powers like Russia. The idea proposed more than 50
years ago was to boost the morale of the US in the aftermath of the
Sputnik success in 1957.

Some leading physicists were also involved. (There was apparently also
a Project COW, from the pop star nursery rhyme of the cow jumping over
the moon!) The astronomer, Carl Sagan, then a student, also did some
calculations on the visibility of such a blast as seen on earth.

The recent news report also talks of the United States’ plan to blow
up the moon with a nuclear bomb as a cold war show of strength! This
could give a wrong or highly misleading impression that it is actually
possible to shatter (i.e. blow up) the moon into smithereens with
nuclear bombs!…..
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/302060/a-nuclear-flash-point.html

January 3, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | history, USA