| Operation Argus | |
|---|---|
 X-17 with nuclear warhead launched from aboard the USSNorton Sound | |
| Information | |
| Country | United States |
| Test site | South Atlantic Ocean |
| Period | 1958 |
| Number of tests | 3 |
| Test type | space rocket (> 80 km) |
| Max. yield | 1.7kilotonnes of TNT (7.1 TJ) |
| Test series chronology | |
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Operation Argus was a series of United States low-yield, high-altitudenuclear weapons tests andmissile tests secretly conducted from 27 August to 9 September 1958 over theSouth Atlantic Ocean.[1][2] The tests were performed by theDefense Nuclear Agency.
The tests were to study theChristofilos effect, which suggested it was possible to defend against Soviet nuclear missiles by exploding a small number of nuclear bombs high over the South Pacific. This would create a disk ofelectrons over the United States that would overload the electronics on the Soviet warheads as they descended. It was also possible to use the effect to blind Sovietradars, meaning that anySoviet missile-based ABM system would be unable to attack the US counterstrike.
The tests demonstrated that the effect did occur, but that it dissipated too rapidly to be very effective. Papers concerning the topic were published the next year, emphasizing the events as purely scientific endeavors.
The tests were proposed byNicholas Christofilos in an unpublished paper[3] of what was then the Livermore branch of theLawrence Radiation Laboratory (nowLawrence Livermore National Laboratory) as a means to verify theChristofilos effect, which argued that high-altitude nuclear detonations would create a radiation belt in the extreme upper regions of the Earth's atmosphere.[4] Such belts would be similar in effect to theVan Allen radiation belts. "Such radiation belts were viewed as having possible tactical use in war, including degradation of radio and radar transmissions, damage or destruction of the arming and fuzing mechanisms of ICBM warheads, and endangering the crews of orbitingspace vehicles that might enter the belt."[2] Prior to Argus,Hardtack Teak had shown disruption of radio communications from a nuclear blast, though this was not due to the creation ofradiation belts.
Argus was implemented rapidly after inception due to forthcoming bans on atmospheric and exoatmospheric testing in October 1958.[1] Consequently, the tests were performed within a mere half-year of conception (whereas "normal" testing took one to two years).[5] Because nuclear testing during this time was arguably a violation of the rules, the military borrowed International Geophysical Year equipment to disguise thenuclear tests.[1]
OriginallyArgus was designatedHardtack-Argus, and laterFloral. For reasons of security, both names were disused in favor of the independent nameArgus.
Funding was provided by theArmed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), the predecessor of the presentDefense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Total funds allotted for the project wereUS$9,023,000.
TheUnited States Navy Task Force 88 (or TF-88), was formed 28 April 1958. TF-88 was organized solely to conductOperation Argus. OnceArgus was completed, the task force was dissolved, and its records dispersed. Some of these records have been destroyed or lost during the time period intervening. Of particular note among the missing documents were the film records (which recorded radiation levels during theArgus tests). This has proved contentious due to the greater-than-normal number ofleukemia claims among TF-88 participants to theVeterans Administration. Because of this, it has been difficult to resolve to how much radiation the participants were exposed.
USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) was aUnited States Navy-guided missile ship responsible for missile-launching functions. It also served as a training facility for crews involved in the testing. TheX-17A missiles to be used in the test were unfamiliar to those conducting the tests. Exercises including assembly and repair of dummy missiles were performed aboardNorton Sound. It also carried a 27-MHzCOZI radar, which was operated by theAir Force Cambridge Research Center, which was used to monitor effects of the shots. It was responsible for the launching of three low-yield nuclear warheads into the highatmosphere.[1] Its commanding officer, CaptainArthur R. Gralla, commanded Task Force 88.[6] Gralla would later receive theLegion of Merit for his role conducting the tests expeditiously.[7]
USSAlbemarle, fresh out of anoverhaul, was not listed on the TF-88 order. It set out to theAtlantic Ocean, supposedly as a shakedown cruise. It, too, had a COZI radar and other instrumentation for detecting man-madeionization. This instrumentation includedInternational Geophysical Year (IGY)radiometers,receivers,radar, and optical equipment. After the IGYequipment was added, it sailed to the ocean around the area of the Azores to record data at thegeomagneticconjugate point of the South Atlantic test site, as the rest of task force 88 headed to the South Atlantic to perform the tests.[1]
USSTarawa served as overall command of the operation, with her commander serving as Task Group Commander. It carried anAir ForceMSQ-1A radar and communication system for missile tracking. It also housedVS-32 aircraft for search and security operations as well as scientific measurement, photographic, and observer missions for each test.HS-5 was also aboard and provided intra-task-force transportation for personnel and cargo.
USSWarrington, in conjunction withBearss,Hammerberg, andCourtney, maintained a weatherpicket 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) west of the task force, provided an airplane guard forTarawa duringflight operations, and performed standard destroyer functions (such as surface security and search and rescue).Warrington also carried equipment for launchingLoki Dartsounding rockets.
USSNeosho refueled task force ships during the operation. It was also outfitted with Air Force MSQ-1A radar and communication vans.Neosho also served as theflagship for TG 88.3, the Mobile Logistics Group, which consisted ofNeosho, USSSalamonie (AO-26), and assigned destroyers.
USSSalamonie returned to the United States upon arrival at TF-88, and did not participate with any tests.
Two satellite launches were attempted in order to obtain data from these high-altitude tests.Explorer 4 was launched successfully to orbit on 26 July onJuno I missile from Cape Canaveral. Thesatellite had enoughbattery power to function for sixty days. This was long enough for thesatellite to track and measure ARGUS.[1]Explorer 5 experienced a launch failure on 24 August.
There were many tracking systems used by the task force along with these satellites along with many organizations that helped track these missiles. "These included theNaval Research Laboratory, the Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Laboratory, theArmy Map Service, theNaval Ordnance Test Station, and theBallistic Research Laboratory along with ground tracking stations from theAleutian Islands through theAzores from academic, industrial, and military organizations."[1]
To prepare for the launch of the ARGUS missiles, many tests and preparations were performed. As the east coast units of TF 88 were heading towards theSouth Atlantic, they participated with countdown, launch, and missile- tracking drills usingLoki/Dart high-altitude, antiaircraft rockets launched from the USSWarrington. Fourteen of these Loki launches were conducted from 12 to 22 August. These tests were performed to test equipment and procedures, and to train personnel in specialized assignments. Some of these assignments necessary for the ARGUS missile launchings were "stationing of ships, MSQ-1Aradar tracking by theUSSNeosho and theUSSTarawa, communications, positioning of sky-camera S2F aircraft, and area surveillance S2F aircraft."[2]
About 1800 km southwest ofCape Town, South Africa,USSNorton Sound launched three modifiedX-17A missiles armed with 1.7ktW-25nuclear warheads into the upperatmosphere, wherehigh altitude nuclear explosions occurred. Due to theSouth Atlantic Anomaly, theVan Allen radiation belt is closer to the Earth's surface at that location. The (extreme) altitude of the tests was chosen so as to prevent personnel involved with the test from being exposed to anyionizing radiation.[8] Even with the very minor threat of radiation exposure, precautions were taken to prevent radiological exposure. The task force commander and his staff had devised a series of precautionary radiation safe measures to be followed in each stage of the operation. Though the chance of exposure to radiation from these missiles was minute, the safety measures were performed as directed by the commander by the crew of Task Force 88.[2]
Coordinated measurement programs involving satellite, rocket, aircraft, and surface stations were employed by theservices as well as other government agencies and various contractors worldwide.
The Argus explosions created artificialelectron belts resulting from theβ-decay offission fragments. These lasted for several weeks. Such radiation belts affect radio andradar transmissions, damage or destroy arming andfusing mechanisms ofintercontinental ballistic missilewarheads, and endanger crews oforbitingspace vehicles. It was found after performing these tests that the explosions did in fact degrade the reception and transmission of radar signals, another proof that Christofilos was correct about the Christofilos effect.[2]
Argus proved the validity of Christofilos' theory: the establishment of an electron shell derived from neutron and β-decay of fission products and ionization of device materials in the upper atmosphere was demonstrated. It not only provided data on military considerations, but produced a "great mass" of geophysical data.
The tests were first reported journalistically byHanson Baldwin andWalter Sullivan ofThe New York Times on 19 March 1959,[9][10] headlining it as the "greatest scientific experiment ever conducted". This was an unauthorized publication that caused great controversy among scientists because many of them were unaware of the presence of artificial particles in the Earth's atmosphere.[1] Approximately nine ships and 4,500 people participated with the operation. After the completion of testing, the task force returned to the United States viaRio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The tests were announced officially the next year, but the full results and documentation of the tests were not declassified until 30 April 1982.
| Name[note 1] | Date time (UT) | LocalTime Zone[note 2][11] | Location[note 3] | Elevation + height[note 4] | Delivery[note 5] Purpose[note 6] | Device[note 7] | Yield[note 8] | Fallout[note 9] | References | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 27, 1958 02:28:?? | WET (0 hrs) | Launch from South Atlantic Ocean38°30′S11°30′W / 38.5°S 11.5°W /-38.5; -11.5 (Launch_1), elv: 0 + 0 m (0 + 0 ft); Detonation over South Atlantic Ocean38°30′S11°30′W / 38.5°S 11.5°W /-38.5; -11.5 (1) | N/A + 170 kilometers (110 mi) | space rocket (> 80 km), weapon effect | W-25 | 1.7 kilotonnes of TNT (7.1 TJ)[12] | [13][14][15][16][17][18] | ||
| 2 | August 30, 1958 03:18:?? | WET (0 hrs) | Launch from South Atlantic Ocean49°30′S8°12′W / 49.5°S 8.2°W /-49.5; -8.2 (Launch_2), elv: 0 + 0 m (0 + 0 ft); Detonation over South Atlantic Ocean49°30′S8°12′W / 49.5°S 8.2°W /-49.5; -8.2 (2) | N/A + 310 kilometers (190 mi) | space rocket (> 80 km), weapon effect | W-25 | 1.7 kilotonnes of TNT (7.1 TJ)[12] | [13][14][15][16][17][18] | ||
| 3 | September 6, 1958 22:13:?? | WET (0 hrs) | Launch from South Atlantic Ocean48°30′S9°42′W / 48.5°S 9.7°W /-48.5; -9.7 (Launch_3), elv: 0 + 0 m (0 + 0 ft); Detonation over South Atlantic Ocean48°30′S9°42′W / 48.5°S 9.7°W /-48.5; -9.7 (3) | N/A + 794 kilometers (493 mi) | space rocket (> 80 km), weapon effect | W-25 | 1.7 kilotonnes of TNT (7.1 TJ)[12] | [13][14][15][16][17][18] |
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
