What Happens When A Nuclear Bomb Detonates In Space?
With the upcoming release of Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," a dramatization of the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the first ever atomic bomb, atomic weapons and their history are on the minds of the public again. As unfortunate as it is, atomic weapons have been a part of the public conversation since their existence was revealed to the public after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Imperial Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Though it forced the last remaining Axis forces to surrender in 1945, it came at a cost.
With the effects of nuclear weapons on the ground unfortunately very well documented, it's worth asking what would happen if a nuclear weapon was detonated in space or just inside the atmosphere? It seems fairly far-fetched, as the concept was a plot point in the 2009 video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," when a nuclear missile launched by a Russian submarine detonated above Washington D.C. Despite the rest of the plot being mostly hyped-up nonsense, nuclear weapons have actually been detonated in space.
A nuclear weapon test, dubbed "Starfish Prime," was conducted on July 9, 1962 by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The team aimed to see what would happen if a 1.45 megaton nuclear bomb was detonated 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. For reference, a 1.45 megaton bomb has roughly 100 times more power than the Hiroshima bomb.
A light show followed by a blackout
From a visual perspective, the explosion was reportedly a sight to behold, as it looked like the Aurora Borealis was happening over Hawaii. For thousands of miles, spectators could see flashes of red, green, or blue streaks across the sky for about half an hour, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.
After it exploded, the hydrogen bomb let off an electromagnetic pulse that fried electronic devices and knocked out power 1,000 miles away in Hawaii. Additionally, Telstar — the very first communications satellite for AT&T — was damaged by residual radiation a day after the launch, and eventually knocked out of commission by later nuclear tests.
The test was successful inasmuch as both the Soviet Union and the United States realized they shouldn't amp up the tonnage and do it again. The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed the next year in 1963 banned high altitude tests like Starfish Prime from happening again.
If a larger bomb were ever set off in space, as unlikely as that is, one could imagine that the resulting technological toll would be extremely heavy, as power would likely be disrupted over a large portion of the landmass below. With the cessation of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the risk of all out nuclear war has dropped precipitously, allowing for at least a measure of ease regarding the possibility of such an airborne attack.