The Day Five Men Willingly Stood Under a Nuclear Explosion
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In the 1950s, fear of nuclear-armed Soviet bombers led to the creation of the Genie rocket. Fired from an American or Canadian fighter jet, the Genie had no guidance system. It merely had to be aimed at a Soviet bomber and the 1.7 kiloton nuclear warhead—packing the equivalent of 1,700 tons of TNT—took care of the rest. The 221-pound warhead was only used once, in a test code-named “John.” On July 19, 1957—59 years ago today—a single Northrop F-89 Scorpion jet flew over Area 10 at the Nevada Test Site. At an altitude of 18,500 feet, a single Genie was launched. It traveled… Continue Reading (2 minute read)