Operation Ranger
|
Nuclear test Operation Ranger
|
|
|---|---|
 Ranger Fox |
|
| information | |
| nation |
 United States
|
| Test location | Nevada Test Site |
| Period | January – February 1951 |
| Number of tests | 5 |
| Test type | Above-ground tests |
| Weapon type | fission |
| Max. Explosive force | 22 kT |
| navigation | |
| Previous test | Operation Sandstone |
| Next test | Operation Greenhouse |
Operation Ranger was the fourth American Nuclear Test series . It was carried out in 1951 as the first series of tests on the Nevada National Security Site (then the Nevada Test Site ).
In preparation for Operation Greenhouse , empirical data should be collected through a systematic series of tests. The practical applicability of a second generation of nuclear weapons was also to be tested, which required less large quantities of fissile material. The series of tests was planned under the code name Operation Faust .
prehistory
With the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, the United States feared that expanding the war would prevent further nuclear tests in the Pacific. Also because of the high logistics costs involved in the tests in the Pacific, a test site was sought within the United States. In January 1951, the choice fell on a 3500 square kilometer restricted area 60 miles north of Las Vegas in the US state of Nevada , the so-called Nevada Test Site (NTS). This made the Ranger test series the first nuclear weapon test series in the United States since the Trinity test .
The tests were proposed in Los Alamos on December 6 and 11, 1950 , with the approval of the president on January 11, 1951.
The individual tests of the Ranger series
A total of five atomic bombs were dropped by B-50 bombers over the test area during the operation . The bombs exploded at a height of about 300 meters. Atomic bombs of the Mark-4 type were used, only the last bomb was of the newly developed Mark-6 type.
Two days before the first test, on January 25, 1951, a conventional explosive charge was detonated to calibrate the measuring instruments.
| bomb | Date / Time ( GMT ) |
Proving Ground | Explosion height | Test type | Explosive force (predicted) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Able | January 27, 1951 1:45 p.m. |
Frenchman Flat | 323 meters (1060 feet) |
Air detonation | 1 kT (1.3 kT) | The Able bomb had a highly enriched uranium core to determine the effects of compression on the critical mass . An explosive force of 1.3 kt was calculated for the bomb, but only an explosive force of 1 kt was achieved. |
| Baker-1 | January 28, 1951 1:52 p.m. |
Frenchman Flat | 329 meters (1080 feet) |
Air detonation | 8 kT (9 kT) | |
| Easy | February 1, 1951 1:47 p.m. |
Frenchman Flat | 329 meters (1080 feet) |
Air detonation | 1 kT (0.6 kT) | Comparison of different types of weapons |
| Baker-2 | February 2, 1951 1:49 pm |
Frenchman Flat | 335 meters (1100 feet) |
Air detonation | 8 kT (9 kT) | The test device was identical to that of Baker-1, since the reproducibility of the results was to be checked. |
| Fox | February 6, 1951 1:47 p.m. |
Frenchman Flat | 437 meters (1435 feet) |
Air detonation | 22 kT (34 kT) | The test was done to test the Mark-6 atomic bomb. An explosive force of 34 kt was predicted, but only 22 kt was achieved. Still, the core of this bomb was quickly mass-produced. |
gallery
Record of a detonation during the ranger test
Record of the Ranger Fox test explosion
Mark-6 implosion bomb used in the Fox test
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ US Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office: United States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992 , DOE / NV - 209-REV 15, December 2000, (PDF, 877 kB) ( Memento from October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Robert Standish Norris, Thomas B. Cochran: United States nuclear tests, July 1945 to 31 December 1992 (NWD 94-1) , Nuclear Weapons Databook Working Paper, Washington, DC: Natural Resources Defense Council, February 1, 1994, (PDF , 4.26 MB) ( Memento from October 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Gallery of US Nuclear Tests ( memento August 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) at nuclearweaponarchive.org
Coordinates: 37 ° 8 '9.95 " N , 116 ° 4' 6.59" W.