So I Put moon nuke in google.....

[mnnm1234]

And Found This!

Project A119, also known as "A Study of Lunar Research Flights", was a top-secret plan developed in the late 1950s by the United States Air Force. The aim of the project was to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon to boost public morale in the United States after the Soviet Union took an early lead in the Space Race. The existence of the project was revealed in 2000 by a former executive at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Leonard Reiffel, who led the project in 1958. A young Carl Sagan was part of the team responsible for predicting the effects of a nuclear explosion in low gravity.

Project A119 was never carried out, primarily because a moon landing would be a much more acceptable achievement in the eyes of the American public. The project documents remained secret for nearly 45 years, and despite Reiffel's revelations, the US government has never officially recognized its involvement in the study.

[Czman007]

How exactly would that boost public morale? And what gave you the idea to look that up?

[lucidLemon]

Because explosions are awesome; because explosions are awesome.

[Person012345]

How exactly would that boost public morale? And what gave you the idea to look that up?

Because if the communists try to set up an evil communist moonbase of evil it would mean they could blow them up and make the american people safe again.

[0jam3290]

Commies

[KleptoKat]

Why land on the moon? WE'LL JUST NUKE IT!

[Nikolai]

How exactly would that boost public morale?

The entire reason the West went nuts when Sputnik was launched was that it appeared Soviet missile technology was better than anyone had guessed.

The resultant space race was primarily technological muscle-flexing (even though science got to ride on the coattails). That's why Americans lost interest. Once we had proven that which we had set out to prove, in the minds of many, there was simply no point in continuing.

One has to dig a bit past the surface and learn some stuff to find out why landing on the Moon, even for the third or fifth time, is interesting and remarkable. Sadly, many Americans are not inclined (for whatever reason) to acquire this knowledge.

[ramipro]

Now im Interested in this! How would a nuke behave without an atmosphere? I don't think it would create a mushroom cloud would it? And in low gravity?

[Nikolai]

Now im Interested in this! How would a nuke behave without an atmosphere? I don't think it would create a mushroom cloud would it? And in low gravity?

No, it wouldn't create a mushroom cloud; that's created by air being evacuated from a space and then surrounding air rushing back in to fill the vacuum once the pressure allows it.

There'd be a lot of light and heat. Could you be more specific about the kind of things you'd like to know?

[ramipro]

I mean, I know there wouldn't be a shockwave, and since there's no air, and how would the heat dissipate? Just by radiation?

[Nikolai]

I mean, I know there wouldn't be a shockwave, and since there's no air, and how would the heat dissipate? Just by radiation?

Yes. In fact, that's also how stuff gets "blown away" by a nuke in vacuum -- it's not moved by a shockwave, it's vaporized by radiation from the blast.

Note that in the case of one of my favorite applications (impactor diversion), that's what moves the impactor. Not the shockwave -- bits of impactor material get vaporized and fly away from their original location, forming a sort of jet that shoves the impactor away from the blast.

[Moach]

worth pointing out -- Project Orion would actually use this to propel a vehicle across space (tho, how would they get it up there to begin with?)

its' like that method of getting Kerbals to the mun without using engines, you get stuff to blow up behind you (quite easly done by both Kerbal and Man), then "surf the blast wave".... but then, you do it with nukes

[Tiberion]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altitude_nuclear_explosion

We did test them in "space" - it tended to be a Bad Idea as it creates radiation belts that happen to destroy any satellites that go through them. Oops?

It makes pretty pictures at least, I guess.

Edit: Moach, they put the launch vehicle at the bottom of a long shaft and set off a series of blasts to launch from Earth. Sort of like shooting a rifle. A terribly dangerous nuclear-fallout-spewing rifle.

[FlandersNed]

We choose the nuke the moon not because it is easy, but because it is awesome.

[LaydeeDem]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altitude_nuclear_explosion

We did test them in "space" - it tended to be a Bad Idea as it creates radiation belts that happen to destroy any satellites that go through them. Oops?

It makes pretty pictures at least, I guess.

Edit: Moach, they put the launch vehicle at the bottom of a long shaft and set off a series of blasts to launch from Earth. Sort of like shooting a rifle. A terribly dangerous nuclear-fallout-spewing rifle.

How isn't we haven't destroyed ourselves yet.

[Tauge]

You guys should look up Operation Plowshare. In a nutshell it was a series of plans for using nukes for mining, canal building, tunneling and the like. It was eventually shelved.

But fear not...the Soviets were planning on doing the same thing. And shelved their own version of Operation Plowshare...for much the same reason we did.

[Nikolai]

You guys should look up Operation Plowshare.

Or Project Pluto, a design to have a nuclear-powered bomber just roam around on the enormous powerplant it would pack until the need arose to drop things on people. The thing would have generated enough fallout to kill our enemies just by flying around over them.

Or Davy Crockett, a nuclear weapon designed to be issued to foot soldiers that amounted to a rocket launcher capable of wiping out everything in a roughly one-mile radius. And no, it wasn't clean. (This was actually deployed in Vietnam, but -- thank the gods -- never used.)

Or the MK-54, a backpack nuke with a timer ("Hey, Jeb -- put this on your back, run behind enemy lines, drop it off, and come back to watch the fireworks. Quick like a bunny, now").

Or the British "Blue Peacock", a nuclear land mine. It was supposed to be a last-ditch way to wipe out an invading force, so the idea was to set them off on home soil. And they were supposed to be powered by the body heat of chickens. No, really.

Or "Atomic Annie", a nuclear bomb cannon with a decent reload rate. (Reload? Why on God's green Earth would you want to reload?) Of course, "Annie" was just the largest model of nuclear bomb cannon; there were several.

Growing up, I was absolutely convinced that there would be a few mushroom clouds in my future. Kids today have no sense of omnipresent existential dread. (shakes old man fist while yelling at the little punks to get off my lawn)

[RedDwarfIV]

They stole this idea from the KSP RP!

Sixty years ago!

It's outrageous.

[Veevee]

Sometimes I go to youtube and watch videos of nukes going off and I sit in absolute horror that it's possible to do that, and absolute amazement that we haven't done it yet which then gives me hope for the future of humanity.

[Person012345]

Sometimes I go to youtube and watch videos of nukes going off and I sit in absolute horror that it's possible to do that, and absolute amazement that we haven't done it yet which then gives me hope for the future of humanity.

We've done it twice.

[Borklund]

We've done it twice.

Different times. Doesn't mean it can't happen again; same human beings and all, but I don't see another Operation Meetinghouse happening ever again (25% of Tokyo destroyed, 100,00 people killed in one bombing raid on March 10, 1945), or at least not in my lifetime.