Operation Fishbowl STARFISH PRIME, 1962

At 0 to 15 Sec Maui Station. Operation Fishbowl was a series of high-altitude nuclear tests in 1962 that were carried out by the United States as a part of the larger Operation Dominic nuclear test program. Flight-test vehicles were designed and manufactured by Avco Corporation. Starfish Prime was a July 9, 1962 high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency. It was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space and one of five conducted by the US in space. A Thor rocket carrying a W49 thermonuclear warhead (manufactured by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) and a Mk. 2 reentry vehicle was launched from Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean, about 900 miles west-southwest of Hawaii. The explosion took place at an altitude of 250 miles, above a point 19 miles southwest of Johnston Island. It produced a yield equivalent to 1.4 megatonnes of TNT

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A-bomb Atom Atomic Blast Detonation Dominic Fishbowl High-altitude Nighttime Proving Starfish Technological Thermonuclear Warhead Weaponry

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