Operation Dominic Christmas Island & Operation Dominic

0800064 - JTF-8 Presents Operation Dominic, Christmas Island; EG&G Operation Dominic Scientific Photography, Bluestone Test -Silent - 1962 - 22:29 - Black&White - Two Films on One Video

JTF-8 Presents Operation Dominic, Christmas Island - 12:29 - Sound - A previous video release, "Dominic Fireballs," (silent with captions) featured 16 nuclear bursts conducted near Christmas Island in 1962 and presented a general visual overview of the test operation. This documentary presents a brief history of the British-owned Christmas Island and the agreement that allowed the United States to use it as a staging area for 24 atmospheric tests.

However, only three nuclear blasts are shown, each representing a different aspect of Operation Dominic I. ADOBE, the first airdrop of a thermonuclear device on April 25, 1962, had a yield of 190 kilotons (kt). This was a proof test of a device prior to it going into the nuclear weapons stockpile.

The second test, FRIGATE BIRD, involved a warhead (yield not given) launched on May 6, 1962, from the submarine Ethan Allen and carried to its target by a Polaris missile. It was an atmospheric test. The third test, SWORDFISH, a low-yield device (less than 20 kilotons), was a system proof test of an antisubmarine rocket (ASROC) conducted on May 11, 1962. The weapon, an atomic depth charge, was successfully detonated underwater after its ride on the ASROC.

EG&G Operation Dominic Scientific Photography Bluestone Test - 10:00 - Silent - This video shows the BLUESTONE thermonuclear airdrop from several vantage points at various camera speeds and focal lengths. Conducted near Christmas Island in the Pacific on June 30, BLUESTONE had a yield of 1.27 megatons. This test does not have the familiar mushroom cloud effect, but forms a huge circular fireball and as it expands, forms a large ring.

BLUESTONE was but one of many Dominic I tests dedicated to research and development of thermonuclear devices. The Dominic I series was ordered after the Soviet Union had resumed testing nuclear weapons.

-From DOE NNSA/NSO Historical Test Films http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/films/testfilms.aspx

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• christmas
• island
• thermonuclear
• device
• nuclear
• weapons
• DOE
• NNSA/NSO
• Historical
• Test
• Films

[1DragonFist1]

nice vid

[ScarecrowB1]

weeeeeeeeeee BOOOM!