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Thread:   Nukes forever |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 17
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twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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I just saw a documentary on the history of nuclear weapons. It wasn't that great but it ended with a tour of a Trident II missile silo. It's amazing. A missile that's about 7 stories tall (103 ft) and 10 feet in diameter. The noise of the engine was so fantastic the silo's were lined with 1 foot thick acoustic tiles and the rocket exhaust was sprayed with tremendous amounts of water. The whole thing is suspended above the silo floor. After lift off the missile would be going about 60,000 miles per hour. It could travel over 5,000 miles in under a half hour.
----------------------------------------The warhead yielded 9 megatons - enough to destroy 900 sq. miles. It is a strangely beautiful machine. And it's amazing that so many were built. I'll have to dig out an old copy of Doctor Strangelove.   |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Isnt that about equal to what Mt St Helens did?
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retsof
Former Community Advisor USA Joined: Jul 31, 2005 Post Count: 6824 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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They've got their own scale for that kind of stuff.
----------------------------------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Explosivity_Index
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twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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Isnt that about equal to what Mt St Helens did? In the documentary they showed a hole dug by a small nuclear device. Don't remember the yield, but I think it was in the 100-200 kiloton range - so about 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less powerful than a Trident II. The warhead was buried 600 feet deep and excavated a hole that was 300 feet deep. I don't remember how wide, but it was roughly parabola shaped so you can get a mental image. I found one paper that disparagingly states that Mount St. Helen was equivalent to a 10-20 megaton explosion - Mt. St. Helen vs. Nuclear |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
I doubt that you would find many 9 megaton warheads actually installed on missiles. They normally carried several warheads in the 0.1 - 0.25 megaton range. The B-52s could optionally carry a 5 megaton bomb. After a while, the consensus was that lots of small bombs were more efficient than a few big ones.
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twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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I doubt that you would find many 9 megaton warheads actually installed on missiles. They normally carried several warheads in the 0.1 - 0.25 megaton range. The B-52s could optionally carry a 5 megaton bomb. After a while, the consensus was that lots of small bombs were more efficient than a few big ones. Good point, I remember the controversy over nuclear treaties when the US wanted to install MIRV's (Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles) on it's missiles. I think Russia actually had a 20 megaton warhead. Here's an interesting snippet from Bob Park And Edward Teller urged development of a superbomb, 10,000 times more powerful than the 65 megaton monster the Soviets exploded in 1960! Lowell Wood became so excited he could not contain himself; from the back of the auditorium he shouted "Nukes forever!" The enemy? A killer comet. I think the MIRV warheads had the dial-a-kiloton feature (like tactical howitzer rounds) so you could tailor the yield to a specific target. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Political Science
by Randy Newman No one likes us-I don't know why We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try But all around, even our old friends put us down Let's drop the big one and see what happens We give them money-but are they grateful? No, they're spiteful and they're hateful They don't respect us-so let's surprise them We'll drop the big one and pulverize them Asia's crowded and Europe's too old Africa is far too hot And Canada's too cold And South America stole our name Let's drop the big one There'll be no one left to blame us We'll save Australia Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo We'll build an All American amusement park there They got surfin', too Boom goes London and boom Paree More room for you and more room for me And every city the whole world round Will just be another American town Oh, how peaceful it will be We'll set everybody free You'll wear a Japanese kimono And there'll be Italian shoes for me They all hate us anyhow So let's drop the big one now Let's drop the big one now  |
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twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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If we bombed everybody, we'd have to use neutron bombs
----------------------------------------NEUTRON DANCE The Pointer Sisters I don't want to take it anymore I'll just stay here locked behind the door Just no time to stop and get away 'Cause I work so hard to make it everyday Whoo oooh Whoo oooh There's no money falling from the sky 'Cause a man took my heart and robbed me blind Someone stole my brand new Chevrolet And the rent is due, I got no place to stay Whoo oooh Whoo oooh (Chorus:) And it's hard to say Just how some things never change And it's hard to find Any strength to draw the line I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance Industry don't pay a price that's fair All the common people breathing filthy air Roof caved in on all the simple dreams And to get ahead your heart starts pumping schemes Chorus Whoo oooh Whoo oooh I'm on fire I'm on fire Chorus I know there's a pot of gold for me All I got to do is just believe I'm so happy doin' the neutron dance And I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance I'm so happy doin' the neutron dance I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance |
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Sekerob
Ace Cruncher Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Post Count: 20043 Status: Offline |
60,000 miles per hour, yet doing 5,000 miles in 30 minutes? It would plain burn on re-entry, were it not that this is beyond escape velocity which is about 25k.mph.
----------------------------------------Due to the atmosphere it is not useful and hardly possible to give an object near the surface of the Earth a speed of 11.2 km/s, as these speeds are too far in the hypersonic regime for most practical propulsion systems and would cause most objects to burn up due to atmospheric friction. The high altitude EMP would cause destruction of electronics on a large part of the planet.... back to the stone age in seconds.... deservedly.Here a Poem for the Dr. Strangelove's: When All The Laughter Dies In Sorrow And The Tears Have Risen To A Flood When All The Wars Have Found A Cause In Human Wisdom And In Blood Do You Think They'll Cry In Sadness Do You Think The Eye Will Blink Do You Think They'll Curse The Madness Do You Even Think They'll Think When All The Great Galactic Systems Sigh To A Frozen Halt In Space Do You Think There Will Be Some Remnant Of Beauty Of The Human Race Do You Think There Will Be A Vestige Or A Sniffle Or A Cosmic Tear Do You Think A Greater Thinking Thing Will Give A Damn That Man Was Here ~~~ Kendrew Lascelles
WCG
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twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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60,000 miles per hour, yet doing 5,000 miles in 30 minutes? It would plain burn on re-entry, were it not that this is beyond escape velocity which is about 25k.mph. I noticed that too, but I replayed the section and copied it down precisely - the show was Lost Worlds - Secret Cities of the A-Bomb. It was on one of the history channels. I think what you might be overlooking is the fact that these things are ballistic. They reach a maximum speed and are then carried to sub-orbital levels by the massive momentum. When they descend, their velocity maxes out to whatever the terminal velocity of a conical object is. For a human being, terminal velocity is around 120mph although parachute jumpers can reach higher speeds with the right gear. So . . . only during the boost phase do you see the top speed quoted in the documentary. |
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