U.S had plans to atom-bomb the moon in 1950s

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28 Nov 2012

by admin

In a bizarre a twist of tales on Wednesday a British newspaper reported that the United States government had plans to blast the moon with nuclear bomb during the period of cold war.

The London Telegraph said that operation labeled as “A study of Lunar Research Flights-project A 119” was planned by military chiefs at the height of the race for space in the 50s and to show of power over now collapsed Soviet Union.
According to reports, the U.S was planning of using an atom bomb instead of a Hydrogen bomb because of the weight. The rocket carrying the bomb was to be launched from an undisclosed location and to detonate it at a close proximity range of the moon.
But the military chiefs abandoned the plans because they feared if the mission failed the people on earth would be seriously affected. Physicist Leonard Reiffel, who was involved in the project, has told the newspaper that the bombing project to give the U.S morale boost because the Russians successfully launched Sputnik in 1957. Reiffel later served as deputy director of NASA.
A young astronomer Carl Sagan was assigned to research the behavior of gas and other materials generated by the blast. The scientists involved in the project had also raised fears of contaminating the moon with radioactive material.
The U.S Air Force declined to comment, the newspaper said.