Russia worried, may destroy United States by mistake. | |
Anonymous Coward 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
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AC 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | EMP effects are highly localized. You cannot detonate one bomb in orbit and it frys everything. That is not how the physics of the process work. It would take many bombs. The problem the Russians have in this day and age is reliable delivery systems. |
Anonymous Coward 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | DrP, thank you for the idea of what to look up. STARFISH PRIME, was one of the high-altitude nuclear tests in the Operation Fishbowl series conducted in the Pacific Proving Ground in 1962. It was launched in the Johnston Island area to an altitude of about 400 kilometers by a Thor rocket and had a yield of 1.4 megatons. The test evaluated the capabilities of an antiballistic missile to operate in a nuclear environment and the vulnerability of a U.S. reentry vehicle to survive a nearby nuclear blast. It also provided information on the ability of a U.S. radar system to detect and track reentry vehicles. Another goal was to discern the effects of a high-altitude blast on command and control systems, which were shown to be vulnerable in earlier high-altitude tests. The final goal was to obtain information on the feasibility of testing in outer space. BLUEGILL and STARFISH were high-altitude nuclear tests, part of Operation Fishbowl, conducted in the Johnston Island area of the Pacific Proving Ground in 1962. These tests produced auroral effects, a special feature of explosions where the extreme brightness of the fireball is visible at great distances. Within a second or two after the burst, a brilliant aurora appears from the bottom of the fireball. The formation of the aurora is attributed to the motion, along the lines of the earths magnetic field, of beta particles emitted by the radioactive fission fragments. About a minute after the detonation, the aurora could be observed in the Samoan Islands, 2000 miles from the detonation. These auroras could be seen for approximately 20 minutes. [link to www.osti.gov] i do not understand how this will prevent russia from being worried they might destroy the United States. |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Operation Fishbowl was the high-altitude testing portion of a larger Operation Dominic I. This video is a compilation of footage of the five nuclear tests comprising Operation Fishbowl conducted in the Johnston Island area of the Pacific Proving Ground in 1962. A high-altitude burst is one occurring above 100,000 feet. The video does not identify the date, time or name of the tests. When a nuclear weapon detonates at a high altitude, many of the effects are attenuated. Most of the x-ray energy is absorbed in the air, which decreases the fireball temperature. Absorption of thermal x-ray energy also decreases the energy available for a shock wave. This all results in the development of a toroidal or donut-shaped cloud instead of the usual mushroom shape of ground or near ground explosions. This also shows the auroral effect of high-altitude explosions where the extreme brightness of the fireball is visible at great distances. Within a second or two after the burst, a brilliant aurora appears from the bottom of the fireball. The formation of the aurora is attributed to the motion, along the lines of the earths magnetic field, of beta particles emitted by the radioactive fission fragments. About a minute after the detonation, the aurora can be observed from as far away as 2000 miles. These auroras can be seen for approximately 20 minutes. In a high-altitude blast, many of the effects are attenuated, resulting in a toroidal or donut-shaped cloud instead of the mushroom cloud from a surface burst. These weapons-effects tests, launched by Strypi, Thor, and Nike Hercules rockets, were as follows: STARFISH PRIME, July 9, 400-kilometer altitude, 1.4 megaton CHECKMATE, October 20, tens of kilometers altitude, low (less than 20 kt) BLUEGILL 3 PRIME, October 26, tens of kilometers altitude, submegaton (less than 1 Mt, but more than 200 kt) KINGFISH, November 1, tens of kilometers altitude; submegaton (less than 1 Mt, but more than 200 kt) TIGHTROPE, November 4, tens of kilometers altitude, low (less than 20 kt) Two goals of these tests were to determine if radiation and blast and heat effects of high- altitude detonations were capable of neutralizing an enemy reentry vehicle and capable of determining the blackout effects on radar and communications of various yields and altitudes of bursts. also from: [link to www.osti.gov] |
Commie Joe 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Right you are Dr. P. The EMP effect has been grossly exagerated. I would guess that the only thing susceptible would be the power grid and everything plugged into it. Cars, radios, all off grid electronics and local generators would not be affected. Its sort of like a massive lightning strike. Chances are it might take out the internet through the power grid. But, the movie, The Day After, in which all cars stopped on the interstate after the blast is just poppycock. |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Dr.P, perhaps this was more along your lines? i donīt mind learning more but i still wonder how any of this will effect the russian fear that they may accidently destroy the United States?? that is the thread heading...russia is worried. but thank you for more learning today, i do appreciate you and your ideas. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 1962 test series that included the Starfish space test also included several high-altitude atmospheric tests. >Argus 1 1-2 KT 480 km 8/27/58 38S, 12W >Argus 2 1-2 KT 480 km 8/30/58 50S, 8W >Argus 3 1-2 KT 480 km 9/6/58 50S, 10W The Argus tests were 1kT bombs at varying altitudes, in fact. They were quite secret at the time, and were done for a specific purpose: testing how well nuclear bombs could pump electrons into the magnetosphere, and whether the electrons would persist. If you could pump up the Van Allen belts well enough, they would fry any nuclear warhead passing through them, and this would make a very effective defence against long-range ballistic missiles. Fortunately or unfortunately, the conclusion of the tests was that it wouldnīt work well enough to be practical. >Starfish 1.4 MT (!) 400 km 7/9/62 Johnston I. Technically this was Starfish Prime; the original Starfish had a launch failure. Missiles were not too reliable then; one of the other tests in the same series succeeded on the fourth try. -- Americans proved to be more bureaucratic | Henry Spencer than I ever thought. --Valery Ryumin, RKK Energia from: [link to www.yarchive.net] |
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Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Salimandr, my point was that we have quite a lot of data on the effects of nuclear explosions in space, and these data show that the effects of EMP and of trapping of energetic particles in the radiation belts are far less spectacular than many people have claimed. This is not to say that there is no such thing as an EMP, or that energetic particles from nuclear explosions cannot be trapped in the radiation belts for long periods of time. But the numbers do matter...and many of the numbers one sees in the popular press are wildly wrong. |
Monique 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | DrP, i understand. people can get excited about modern empīs and other things. i guess it was interesting to see that even congress is/was looking into it with a different view on the effects of empīs. to me, this is a long but very interesting read from our own Committee on Natīl Security (i know this is older but perhaps there is newer info out there?? lots of testimony on these pages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THREAT POSED BY ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP) TO U.S. MILITARY SYSTEMS AND CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE House of Representatives, Committee on National Security, Military Research and Development Subcommittee, Washington, DC, Wednesday, July 16, 1997. EMP can be generated in several ways, but the widest effects are caused by a high-altitude nuclear blast, although we will ask questions about other than nuclear blasts causing EMP. All of us here understand that the threats posed to our military systems and civilian infrastructure by high-altitude EMP are not new. Atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1950īs and 1960īs revealed a number of then unanticipated results, including electrical and communications disruptions hundreds of miles from the test sites. There may be, however, new dimensions in vulnerabilities that we need to look at more carefully. In the 1950īs, electronic systems used vacuum tubes, not very sophisticated, but resistant to EMP. Today, computers with more and more microcircuits packed into smaller and smaller chips are key to the efficiency of virtually all commerce in the United States. These have much more computing power, but are also much more sensitive to disruption and more easily disabled by EMP. As our reliance grows, so does our potential vulnerability. from: [link to www.fas.org] |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | whoa!! further down on the page..... Mr. Weldon says: "In short, we have found that the phenomenon is very real, as you have already stated, and is well understood by the nuclear weapons effects community; that our strategic systems and their command, control and communications infrastructure have been designed and built to survive and operate effectively in such an environment; that there would likely be pronounced effects on the civilian infrastructure from such a pulse; that the magnitude and extent of these effects is difficult even to estimate; and that it is probably not feasible to completely protect the entire infrastructure from the effects of such a pulse." so that means there may be a problem on the civilian infrastructure...hmmmm. at least the military infrastructure has been built better. he then goes on..... Mr. Weldon says: "The area of the Earthīs surface directly illuminated by EMP is determined entirely by the height of burst. All points on the Earthīs surface within the horizon, as seen from the burst point, will experience EMP effects as depicted in figure 2, which is on page 3 of your handout. Note that a burst on the order of 500 kilometers in altitude can cover the entire continental United States." [link to www.fas.org] get that? cover the whole united states?? |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Dr P, you said: "But the numbers do matter...and many of the numbers one sees in the popular press are wildly wrong." is there somewhere where i can find out how the numbers are wildly wrong? where i can find something that counters what iīve posted? (this stuff is interesting! sorry if itīs not interesting to others though...hmmmm.) |
Commie Joe 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | My guess is that the Argus and Starfish Prime test series were intended to determine whether a high altitude nudet would be able to act as a shield against nuclear missile attack by pumping up the Van Allen belts and frying enemy warheads as they came through. Starfish was around the time of the Cuban Missile crisis. My understanding is that it fried a number of the satellites that were in orbit. The key concern with a nuke detonated at high altitude - say bin Laden got a Pakistani nuke, is that it could fry most of the satellites in low earth orbit - these would be spy sats and certain comsats. GPS, which is farther out and nuclear hardened would probably be fine, and it might fry some comsats out at geostationary orbit that were line of sight from the blast. In other words we might lose our eyes in space and your Direct TV, but our troops would still know where they were and could use hardened communications links like MILSTAR to pass e-mail - but forget large batches of data. Space war can get very complicated. What if the russians clandestinely put nukes in satellites to take out GPS and leave GLONASS operational. Do you demand inspection of the Russian payloads (or Chinese). Do you establish "keep out" boundaries. Do you have "sniffer" robot sats with rad detectors checking other sats. Or you use the ham fisted approach and just shoot down anything that attempts to launch into space from anywhere. What if a LOE nudet does occur. Would you be better off paying the commercial contracters to radiation harden the satellites so those that are not line of sight survive? Or just launch spares? Oh, and a couple of years back an article appeaed in Janes Defense about a Navy program that would place a large number of HAARP like installations all over the globe. The ostensible purpose? To de-energize the Van Allen belts after a nudet. |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Salimandr, itīs not so much that the numbers youīve seen are wrong, as that they are often misunderstood. For example, Weldon is quite correct in saying that the EMP from one big bomb at the right altitude could "cover the United States". But "cover the United States" doesnīt mean "permanently disable every microprocessor and every RAM chip in the United States". Thereīs a big difference between transient upsets (such as might occur in a geomagnetic storm) and electronic Doomsday. |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | DrP, guess i should correct the post but donīt think i can as it was Dr. Smith that was saying those things. but, yep, i understand there would/could be variables. i understand too that not all is completely understood (the variables) and therefore itīs hard to say how long things would stay out or if theyīd even be out. commie joe, could you explain please what a LOE nudet is? thank you in advance. |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Monique, sounds like weīve been watching all along... commie joe, gee...i donīt see how something like this (the country wide for example) wouldnīt have an effect on highway traffic/stop lights etc. can you imagine no lights in every city and town? hmmmm. might be great star seeing though. wouldnīt this have some effect on other places though too? or not? |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | commie joe, you said: "My guess is that the Argus and Starfish Prime test series were intended to determine whether a high altitude nudet would be able to act as a shield against nuclear missile attack by pumping up the Van Allen belts and frying enemy warheads as they came through." good, then i must have understood it correctly as i got the same thing from those testings. either that or weīre both wrong! it is nice that russia is worried, isnīt it? |
Dr P 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Salimandr, I hate to admit it, but the Federation of American Scientists is an excellent source for data on military technology. They have a strong tendency to take political positions with which I donīt sympathize, but if youīre careful to separate objective information from political opinion, youīll find their Internet site very useful. |
salimandr nli 12/08/2005 10:16 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Dr P, thank you, i will be looking into that site now as well. appreciate your help. commie joe, you had said that it wouldnīt stop cars like in the movie... Dr Wood said: "the first comparatively modest one very unexpectedly turned off the lights over a few million square miles in the mid-Pacific. This EMP also shut down radio stations, turned off cars, burned out telephone systems, and wreaked other mischief throughout the Hawaiian Islands nearly 1,000 miles distant from ground zero." see, he says "turned off cars...and that was before they were so all fired computerized. |