Operation Upshot-Knothole - Nevada Proving Grounds - Nye County, Nevada USA (specific test unknown)
Photo courtesy of the National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Site Office.
Grable Test - Operation Upshot-Knothole - Nevada Proving Grounds - Nye County, Nevada USA - May 25, 1953
Photo courtesy of the National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Site Office.
Grable is notable for being the first time a nuclear test was performed using an atomic bomb encased in a shell that was shot out of a piece of artillery. The thinking at the time was that such a weapon was needed to assure more accuracy in neutralizing an advancing Soviet army than could be achieved from an airborne delivery where an errant drop would have been disastrous. Of course, never mind that the poor understanding in those days of what was an acceptable dose of radiation would have also eventually neutralized the Allied forces that would have been ordered to march right into the blast area to “clean up” any remaining Warsaw Pact troops…which would then have left western Europe wide open for a second wave from the massive Red Army…which would then have left the USA no choice but to start bombing Russian cities…which would then have caused most of us to not be here now and those that did have surviving parents and grandparents would be posting incessant pictures on Tumblr of kittens with three eyes.
Photo courtesy of the National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Site Office.
Grable is notable for being the first time a nuclear test was performed using an atomic bomb encased in a shell that was shot out of a piece of artillery. The thinking at the time was that such a weapon was needed to assure more accuracy in neutralizing an advancing Soviet army than could be achieved from an airborne delivery where an errant drop would have been disastrous. Of course, never mind that the poor understanding in those days of what was an acceptable dose of radiation would have also eventually neutralized the Allied forces that would have been ordered to march right into the blast area to “clean up” any remaining Warsaw Pact troops…which would then have left western Europe wide open for a second wave from the massive Red Army…which would then have left the USA no choice but to start bombing Russian cities…which would then have caused most of us to not be here now and those that did have surviving parents and grandparents would be posting incessant pictures on Tumblr of kittens with three eyes.
