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Operation Plumbbob, conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957, represented the biggest, longest, and most controversial test series in the history of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). While most Operation Plumbbob tests contributed to the development of warheads for intercontinental and intermediate range missiles, they also tested air defense and antisubmarine warheads with small yields. Operation Plumbbob had the tallest tower tests to date in the U.S. nuclear testing program, as well as high-altitude balloon tests. One nuclear test involved the largest troop maneuver ever associated with U.S. nuclear testing.
Approximately 18,000 members of the U.S. armed forces participated in exercises Desert Rock VII and VIII during Operation Plumbbob. Their leaders were interested in knowing how the average foot-soldier would stand up, physically and psychologically, to the rigors of the tactical nuclear battlefield.
Studies were conducted of radiation contamination and fallout from a simulated accidental detonation of a weapon; and projects concerning earth motion, blast loading and neutron output were carried out.
Nuclear weapons safety experiments were conducted to study the possibility of a nuclear weapon detonation during an accident. On July 26, 1957, a safety experiment, "PASCAL-A" was detonated in an unstemmed hole at NTS, becoming the first underground shaft nuclear test. The knowledge gained here would provide data to prevent any nuclear yields in accidents that actually did occur. Weapons were designed so they could not give a nuclear yield even in the event of a plane crash.
The first detonation contained underground, RAINIER, was conducted on September 19, 1957, containing all radioactive products underground, thus producing no fallout This test of 1.7 kilotons could be detected around the world by seismologists using ordinary seismic instruments. The RAINIER test became the prototype for larger and more powerful underground tests. The test also subjected toughened weapons to the fireball underground.
The tests comprising the 1957 Operation Plumbbob were as follows:
- BOLTZMAN, May 28, tower, weapons related, 12 kilotons (kt)
- FRANKLIN, June 2, tower, weapons related, 140 tons
- LASSEN, June 5, balloon, weapons related, 0.5 tons
- WILSON, June 18, balloon, weapons related, 10 kt
- PRISCILLA, June 24, balloon, weapons related, 37 kt
- COULOMB-A, July 1, surface, safety experiment, zero yield
- HOOD, July 5, balloon, weapons related, 74 kt
- DIABLO, July 15, tower, weapons related, 17 kt
- JOHN, July 19, rocket, weapons effects, about 2 kt
- KEPLER, July 24, tower, weapons related, 10 kt
- OWENS, July 25, balloon, weapons related, 9.7 kt
- PASCAL-A, July 26, shaft, safety experiment, slight yield
- STOKES, August 7, balloon, weapons related, 19 kt
- SATURN, August 10, tunnel, safety experiment, zero yield
- SHASTA, August 18, tower, weapons related, 17 kt
- DOPPLER, August 23, balloon, weapons related, 11 kt
- PASCAL-B, August 27, shaft, safety experiment, slight yield
- FRANKLIN PRIME, August 30, balloon, weapons related, 4.7 kilotons
- SMOKY, August 31, tower, weapons related, 44 kt
- GALILEO, September 2, tower, weapons related, 11 kt
- WHEELER, September 6, balloon, weapons related, 197 tons
- COULOMB-B, September 6, surface, safety experiment, 300 tons
- LAPLACE, September 8, balloon, weapons related, 1 kt
- FIZEAU, September 14, tower, weapons related, 11 kt
- NEWTON, September 16, balloon, weapons related, 12 kt
- RAINIER, September 19, tunnel, weapons related, 1.7 kt
- WHITNEY, September 23, tower, weapons related, 19 kt
- CHARLESTON, September 28, balloon, weapons related, 12 kt
- MORGAN, October 7, balloon, weapons related, 8 kt
Original source for test information: Public domain text from the U.S. Department of Energy Nevada web page http://www.nv.doe.gov/news&pubs/photos&films/0800021/Default.htm
The true first man-made object in space?
According to urban legend, a manhole cover was accidentally launched from its shaft during an underground nuclear test in the 1950s, at great enough speed to leave the solar system. The myth is based on a real incident during the Pascal-B test, where a heavy steel plate cap was blasted off the test shaft at tremendous velocity, never to be seen again, although it is doubtful that it left the atmosphere.
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