We almost blew up the moon in the 1950's........

[ABikerSailor]

Seems that there was a top secret project going on during the Cold War that the U.S. wanted to use to intimidate Russia.

They wanted to blow up the moon............................

The US had planned to blow up the moon with a nuclear bomb in the 1950s.

At the height of the space race, the US considered detonating an atom bomb on the moon as a display of America’s Cold War muscle.

The secret project, named A Study of Lunar Research Flights and nicknamed Project A119, however was never carried out.

America’s planning included calculations by astronomer Carl Sagan, then a young graduate student, of the behavior of dust and gas generated by the blast, the Daily Mail reports.

According to the report, viewing the nuclear flash from Earth might have intimidated the Soviet Union and boosted U.S. confidence after the launch of Sputnik, physicist Leonard Reiffel said.

Under the scenario, a missile carrying a small nuclear device was to be launched from an undisclosed location and travel 238,000 miles to the moon, where it would be detonated upon impact.

The planners decided it would have to be an atom bomb because a hydrogen bomb would have been too heavy for the missile, the report said.

Military officials apparently abandoned the idea because of the danger to people on Earth in case the mission failed, the report added.

The scientists also registered concerns about contaminating the moon with radioactive material, Reiffel said.

US ‘planned to blow up Moon’ with nuke during Cold War era to show Soviets might - Sci/Tech - DNA

Good thing they didn't, or Neil Armstrong might never have become famous.

 

[uscitizen]

That would have really pissed off those living inside the moon.

 

[Mr. H.]

Niel Young could not have composed Harvest Moon.

 

[The Infidel]

And fishing would suck!

No more tides

 

[ABikerSailor]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

 

[Spoonman]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

no, but we would lose our seasons

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Seems that there was a top secret project going on during the Cold War that the U.S. wanted to use to intimidate Russia.

They wanted to blow up the moon............................

The US had planned to blow up the moon with a nuclear bomb in the 1950s.

At the height of the space race, the US considered detonating an atom bomb on the moon as a display of America’s Cold War muscle.

The secret project, named A Study of Lunar Research Flights and nicknamed Project A119, however was never carried out.

America’s planning included calculations by astronomer Carl Sagan, then a young graduate student, of the behavior of dust and gas generated by the blast, the Daily Mail reports.

According to the report, viewing the nuclear flash from Earth might have intimidated the Soviet Union and boosted U.S. confidence after the launch of Sputnik, physicist Leonard Reiffel said.

Under the scenario, a missile carrying a small nuclear device was to be launched from an undisclosed location and travel 238,000 miles to the moon, where it would be detonated upon impact.

The planners decided it would have to be an atom bomb because a hydrogen bomb would have been too heavy for the missile, the report said.

Military officials apparently abandoned the idea because of the danger to people on Earth in case the mission failed, the report added.

The scientists also registered concerns about contaminating the moon with radioactive material, Reiffel said.

US ‘planned to blow up Moon’ with nuke during Cold War era to show Soviets might - Sci/Tech - DNA

Good thing they didn't, or Neil Armstrong might never have become famous.

Not to mention we'd probably all be dead as the Moon is more than just a big orb in the sky. It actually affects things here on Earth.

 

[Warrior102]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

You're an expert on Uranus, cocksucker. Nothing more.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

One atom bomb wouldn't have the energy to blow the moon apart. But the explosion would have been strong enough to throw rocks and dust out of the moon's gravity, and there would be an interesting tail following it in orbit.

It would be really cool looking up and seeing an orbiting comet.

 

[The Infidel]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

You're an expert on Uranus, cocksucker. Nothing more.

 

[The Infidel]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

One atom bomb wouldn't have the energy to blow the moon apart. But the explosion would have been strong enough to throw rocks and dust out of the moon's gravity, and there would be an interesting tail following it in orbit.

It would be really cool looking up and seeing an orbiting comet.

I almost want to do this just to see that

 

[g5000]

Seeing as the Russkies had the Bomb by 1949, this story reeks of bullshit. What purpose would blowing up a nuke on the moon in the 1950s have served? We were blowing up nukes in the Pacific rather regularly by then.

And we did not have rockets capable of going to the moon in the 50s. Duh!

And as has been pointed out, one nuke would not "blow up the moon".

In other news from the same web site as the OP story: Video shows `Bigfoot` stalking Ohio woods.


.

 

[Politico]

They couldn't blow the moon up then anymore than now.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

All that cheese gone to waste.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Quick question..................if the U.S. actually DID blow up the moon (and this question is for you science geeks especially) do you think that the Earth would end up with a ring around it like Saturn?

And....................if so...................would it protect the Earth from meteors as well as the moon does now, or would it be worse, or better?

One atom bomb wouldn't have the energy to blow the moon apart. But the explosion would have been strong enough to throw rocks and dust out of the moon's gravity, and there would be an interesting tail following it in orbit.

It would be really cool looking up and seeing an orbiting comet.

Now there's a thought.

It would look kinda cool. Wonder how long it would last if something like that did occur?

And.................what would the new moon look like if the moon was dark but you could see the tail?

 

[Missourian]