Nuclear Test program Operations Ranger & Buster/Jangle
Including Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Sugar and more Nuclear Test
Blasts
Operation Ranger and Operation Buster/Jangle - 1951 - 1 hour 17
minutes - Nevada, Color
Operation Ranger was the first continental nuclear test series
conducted at the Nevada Proving Ground (now called the Nevada Test
Site). With the exception of the Trinity shot in New Mexico, all
previous weapons testing was conducted at the Pacific Proving Ground
in the Marshall Islands area.
From January through February, 1951, five airdrop tests were conducted.
Some of the shots were designed to test trigger devices for weapons
to be tested in Operation Greenhouse scheduled for the Spring:
Able, January 27, 1 kiloton
Baker, January 28, 8 kilotons
Easy, February 1, 1 kiloton
Baker-2, February 2, 8 kilotons
Fox, February 6, 22 kilotons
Because of the low yields of the devices, the military conducted
many tactical nuclear effects tests for the entire operation. Foxholes,
textiles, plastics and wood were placed at various intervals to
measure the effects of thermal radiation.
Operation Buster/Jangle, conducted October and November 1951 at
the Nevada Proving Ground, was comprised of five shots under Buster
and two under Jangle. The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory sponsored
all of the Buster events, while the Department of Defense (DoD)
sponsored the first Jangle shot, and DoD and the Laboratory jointly
sponsored the second event.
The objectives of the Buster tests were to evaluate new devices
developed by the Laboratory and to obtain data on the basic phenomena
associated with these devices. The DoD Weapons Effects Test Unit
evaluated the utility of the five devices for military application,
while the AEC Weapons Development Test Unit performed diagnostic
tests of the nuclear devices.
The two Jangle shots provided the first experimental data on the
military effects of surface and underground nuclear detonations,
determining response of structures to nuclear bursts, gamma radiation
versus time and distance, and residual contamination from surface
and underground bursts.
Following are the essential details of the seven Buster/Jangle
shots:
Able, October 22, 100-foot tower, less than 0.1 kiloton
Baker, October 28, airdrop, 3.5 kilotons
Charlie, October 30, airdrop, 14 kilotons
Dog, November 1, airdrop, 21 kilotons
Easy, November 5, airdrop, 31 kilotons
Sugar, November 19, surface, 1.2 kilotons
Uncle, November 29, crater, 1.2 kilotons
The height of burst for the four airdrops ranged from 1,118 feet
on Baker to 1,417 on Dog.
Here are some sample clips from the DVD
 
 
 
|
