The Air Force had plans to nuke the moon?

www.space.com...

The U.S. Air Force developed a top-secret Cold War plan to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon in the 1950s.

In a letter to the journal Nature, physicist Leonard Reiffel, leader of the effort which was called Project A 119, wrote that the Air Force wanted to explore the effects of exploding a nuclear bomb on the moon’s face. The Air Force wanted the explosion to be clearly visible from Earth.

Reiffel wrote that the military leaders did not seem concerned with the loss to science that would have resulted from a large atomic explosion on the moon’s surface. Let alone what it may have done to the appearance of the "man in the moon."

(*click the link for the full article)

Okay, First things first...
You really think those guys would nuke the moon? although it does SOUND true, i mean... gotta test those Atomic crap somewhere éh? Although i hate nukes etc.
I don't know if i believe it, I haven't seen some big hole in the moon or something... Anyone heard about this? But anyways, I just wanted to hear your opinions about this.



- MB

(*mod edit to add link to source)

[edit on 18-4-2006 by pantha]

Yes, I believe that the moon could have been nuked... was it? I'm not sure.
I have seen but not photographed "flashes" twice (20 years apart) with my little Tasco telescope in the upper right hand portion of the circular face at about the 1 O'clock position. Anyone else with similar experiences?Not "nuke" flash but "something". Now if the moon was used in such a manner could it have been a "run-up" to the hypothetical nuke "Mars-Shot" of '61 or '62 alluded to in 1977's Alternate 3 Granada video "spoof"? Mars weather, then and now might tend to support but not prove such a hypothesis... check the recent ESA photos... I'm sure this won't be the only time this comes up.

[edit on 18-4-2006 by V Kaminski]

That dosnt sound lik a good idea for the size of the moon it would seem that an atomic blast could mess up its orbit around the Earth or some other bad things. But thats just me.

[edit on 18-4-2006 by GodlySpamEater]

Rubbish! At that point in time we knew enough about the way the moon affected our tides.

Originally posted by GodlySpamEater
That dosnt sound lik a good idea for the size of the moon it would seem that an atomic blast could mess up its orbit around the Earth or some other bad things. But thats just me.

It wouldn't be possible for a Nuke to affect the orbit of the moon. It would have to be one insanely powerful nuke to do that.

And they didn't nuke the moon. They only talked about the idea and I do believe they would have done it, but for some reason decided not to.

Originally posted by GodlySpamEater
That dosnt sound lik a good idea for the size of the moon it would seem that an atomic blast could mess up its orbit around the Earth or some other bad things. But thats just me.

[edit on 18-4-2006 by GodlySpamEater]

Nahh. You're kind of right, but it won't destroy thw whole moon, or smash a big peece of of it. But it also depends on the strength of the nuke , how strong it is. Although it is better than testing them on the earth, but it also is a somewhat bad idea...


- MB

Originally posted by zerotolerance
Rubbish! At that point in time we knew enough about the way the moon affected our tides.

Rubbish, hehe, each time i hear that i laugh my pants of ! theres just something about that word. But anyways, Indeed, it is kinda a crazy idea. But it does sound logic, i mean. Gotta test them somewhere...
But the moon is kinda small, so i don't think it'll be smart to test it on the moon.


- MB

Originally posted by jra

It wouldn't be possible for a Nuke to affect the orbit of the moon. It would have to be one insanely powerful nuke to do that.

You are right, i think it would NOT affect the orbit of the moon, and indeed, or else you'll need some powerfull nuke.
Well, You know.. the Moon has a very very low gravity level, some pieces and chunk-o-moon could be ''pulled'' by the earths gravity and change in some meteorite, or it just causes some damage, not so much damage.
So it could change the shape alot.


- MB

Why would anyone want to nuke the moon anyway?

What the bloody hell would that achieve? Nothing, except screwing us up.

I marvel at our combined intelligence sometimes.

Originally posted by Zanzibar
Why would anyone want to nuke the moon anyway?

Well, maybe they need to test the nukes. I mean, you gotta test it somewhere. And i'm not saying it's a good idea or something. It's kind of stupid..

Originally posted by Zanzibar
What the bloody hell would that achieve? Nothing, except screwing us up.
I marvel at our combined intelligence sometimes.

And yes, I agree a 100 % with you We It only screws us up, And our beautifull moon. It's a stupid foolish idea. And they call themselves the Aif Force ¬¬ humph


- MB

There's no air on the moon, so the results would be different no?

The US military need to hire a much better nuke planning guy.

I think it was a great idea. You could use the wobbling motion of the Moon after the explosion to test various planetology theories. Of course it would be best to put seismographs around, and maybe it was in the plan, too. In addition, it could turn a dust field into a nice glassy surface that could be used 20 years later (when the radiation is low enough) as a spaceport.

See, as long it's not on Earth, I don't have a problem with nuking celestial bodies. Heck, our own Sun is just a thermonuclear reactor! Nothing new here.

[edit on 19-4-2006 by Aelita]

Originally posted by Zanzibar
There's no air on the moon, so the results would be different no?

Yes yes, thats true, the result will be different. But i still think a explosion will occur. Although fire can't ''live'' on a place like the moon, Because there is no oxygen. But hey, they can do almost anything these days. they probably have something for it.

Originally posted by Zanzibar
The US military need to hire a much better nuke planning guy.

And again, i agree with you a 100 % again. Can't velieve they let those (...) even work there. Pff



- MB

Maybe the NPG spent too much time on ATS and thought there was a Reptillian base there that was making sweets that would cause cavities to everyone on the planet, thus making us in alot of pain. The reptillians would then make toothpaste that woudl cure it, make loads of money, buy there own nuke, and nuke us.

There is no other explanation.

Originally posted by Zanzibar
Maybe the NPG spent too much time on ATS and thought there was a Reptillian base there that was making sweets that would cause cavities to everyone on the planet, thus making us in alot of pain. The reptillians would then make toothpaste that woudl cure it, make loads of money, buy there own nuke, and nuke us.

There is no other explanation.

Hm... I don't know. It could be the only explenation.
But i don't think so. Can't really tell why, or the reason
There is always a ''What if..''

Has a nuke ever been detonated in space or at least a vacum to see what it will do?

Originally posted by warpboost
Has a nuke ever been detonated in space or at least a vacum to see what it will do?

Intresting question, I have never thought of that, but one would think that since there is no gravity in space, there would be no shockwave, therefore, the Nukes power would be greatly decresed.

Originally posted by Aelita
I think it was a great idea. You could use the wobbling motion of the Moon after the explosion to test various planetology theories. Of course it would be best to put seismographs around, and maybe it was in the plan, too. In addition, it could turn a dust field into a nice glassy surface that could be used 20 years later (when the radiation is low enough) as a spaceport.

See, as long it's not on Earth, I don't have a problem with nuking celestial bodies. Heck, our own Sun is just a thermonuclear reactor! Nothing new here.

[edit on 19-4-2006 by Aelita]

Well, The idea is great indeed, and the things you can do with it...
But, think about the moon for a second, You really like to look at a moon each night wich has a big hole in it? or just all kinds of holes and nuclear dangerous things? A ''dirty'' moon some call it.
It does sound like a good adea indeed, the Nuke technology will probably go up alot, But it's just... It's not right in some way
Bad things could happen when they do it..



- MB

Originally posted by warpboost
Has a nuke ever been detonated in space or at least a vacum to see what it will do?

No warpboost, they did send some little missles etc. but not real big strong nukes or something.
But i think they probably will in a short while

Originally posted by The_Time_is_now
Intresting question, I have never thought of that, but one would think that since there is no gravity in space, there would be no shockwave, therefore, the Nukes power would be greatly decresed.

The time is now.
I think they probably have some new technology so a nuke could survive and have a great impact in space, i don't think the Air Force is so dumb.
I mean, We've got some astonishing things here on earth. So i think they probably have something invented...

- MB