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Historical Background

The Soviet Union had taken a lead in the space race during the Cold War, and the United States desperately wanted to pull off something spectacular to gain the public’s attention and to make a statement to the world. It was a race that saw both nations attempting multiple successful and unsuccessful rocket launches. Soon, the Soviets declared on 30th August 1961, that they were going to end their temporary halt to nuclear testing in space. The US government had to come up with something similar or better than its counterparts. This led to the launch of Operation Fishbowl!

Operation Fishbowl included several sub-operations that studied the impact of high-altitude nuclear detonation. These were:

  1. Bluegill
  2. Starfish
  3. Starfish Prime
  4.  Bluegill Prime
  5. Bluegill Double Prime
  6. Checkmate
  7. Bluegill Triple Prime
  8.  Kingfish
  9. Tightrope

The most impactful of these was the 3rd operation, Operation Starfish Prime. The test wasn’t just a scientific experiment; it was a geopolitical statement. The previous operations and many others outside of Operation Fishbowl had been conducted hastily and had little to no success. Starfish Prime was designed to explore the effects of nuclear explosions in space, particularly their potential to disrupt communications, satellites, and missile systems. However, this operation led to unexpected consequences that sparked international concern about exploding bombs in space. So, let’s jump into knowing what Starfish Prime was and what its potentially deadly consequences were.

Preparation and Objectives of the Operation

Starfish Prime wasn’t just a technical experiment; it was a high-stakes collaboration between the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defence Atomic Support Agency (DASA), with the warhead of the missile designed at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. There were high expectations for this operation as the bomb was set to be dropped at the highest altitude ever.

Nicholas Christofilos, a physicist, was one of the most influential scientists behind the concept of high-altitude nuclear detonation. The operation was overseen by Joint Task Force 8, with Dr. William E. Ogle as the Scientific Deputy.

The United States made a lot of preparations to study the impact of the explosion. Several rockets with instruments on board were set to be fired both before and after the nuclear explosion to study its effects in space. Several US Navy ships and military aircraft were also placed below the point of explosion to study the aftermath.

The objectives of Operation Starfish Prime were:

  1. EMP warfare: Assess how the electromagnetic pulses from the blast would affect electronics, communication and radar systems.
  2. Missile Defence: Explore if intercepting enemy missiles at that altitude with a nuclear detonation could be feasible.
  3. Space Physics: Study nuclear reactions in a vacuum and zero gravity.
  4.  Atmospheric Science: Understand how the explosion will affect the ionosphere and magnetic field of the Earth, including the creation of artificial auroras and radiation belts.

The Explosion and Its Consequences

On 8th July 1962, 9 seconds past 10 pm in the United States, a ‘Thor’ missile was launched from Johnston Atoll Island with a W49 thermonuclear warhead and the Starfish Prime test was successfully detonated at a height of 400 kilometres above sea level. The coordinates of the detonation were 16° 28’ N, 169° 38’ W. 13 minutes and 41 seconds after lift off, the warhead detonated with a yield of 1.4 megatons, making it the most powerful nuclear explosion ever conducted in space. The missile had reached a maximum altitude of 1100 km, and it was detonated at a height of 400 km on its downward path. The following consequences were noticed in the aftermath of the explosion:

A Visual Spectacle:-

  1.  A brilliant white flash occurred in the sky, followed by a green fireball that expanded rapidly.
  2. Concentric rings of light ripple outward, forming a frozen halo.
  3. A mottled red disc appears overhead, with white-yellow streamers stretching across the horizon.

EMP Chaos:-

  1. The electromagnetic pulses from the explosion destroyed about 300 streetlights in Hawaii, which was more than 1,445 km away from the explosion point.
  2. Communication between the Hawaiian Islands was disrupted for a brief period.
  3. The EMP effects extended over 1,400 km, revealing the dangerous impact of a nuclear detonation in space.

Nuclear Fallout:-

  1. The explosion injected high-energy electrons into Earth’s magnetic field, forming an artificial radiation belt that stayed for months.
  2.  The radiation belt intensifies the Van Allen Belts, creating a hazardous zone for spacecraft and astronauts.
  3. Six satellites were destroyed, including Telstar 1, which had been launched by the US a day prior only and one satellite each of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
  4. Debris from the explosion included lithium and cadmium isotopes, which were used to study air currents later.

Public Reaction and Political Impact

The detonation of Starfish Prime was met with a mix of awe, confusion, and growing concern. The U.S. government publicised the event, framing it as a spectacular light show. In Honolulu, some hotels even hosted rooftop “rainbow bomb parties,” inviting guests to witness the artificial aurora created by the explosion, unaware of the nuclear fallout, which is deadly to humans.

Some residents in Hawaii were initially excited to see the artificial auroras in the sky, while others felt that the Soviets had engaged in a nuclear war. The impact of the explosion was off the charts. Some consequences weren’t and couldn’t be predicted at all. The explosion had impacted a large area in terms of distance from the detonation point. This made physicists and environmentalists criticise the test as reckless, and international protests against nuclear detonation in space. What had been a plan to gain public attention in the US backfired severely instead. The US, USSR and UK were pressured to sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 and eventually the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, prohibiting the use of any kind of weapon in space.

Conclusion

Starfish Prime wasn’t just any nuclear explosion; it was a wake-up call for humanity to stop the mad space race. Both the US and USSR were crossing limits to just show the other as inferior, irrespective of the impact of these missions. Decades later, the lessons from Starfish Prime continue to remind us that even a single detonation, however small it may be, can affect life on Earth severely.

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