# Could they have dropped a nuclear bomb on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083 "2009-08-02T19:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/61 "2011-03-25T14:30:16Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There are tons of cites. Do a Google search. > Here is one: [http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread4232/pg1](http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread4232/pg1) Oh, yes: [AboveTopSecret.com](http://AboveTopSecret.com), the _World Weekly News_ of conspiracy websites. For the record, while the USAF may have conducted a study of what it would take to deliver and detonate a nuclear weapon on the surface of the moon (and there were some concerns in the 'Sixties that the Soviets would get around atmospheric testing restrictions by testing weapons on the far side of the moon, which was patently absurd at that time) what is described in the linked article is absurd. A detonation on the moon would not produce a pyrocumulus mushroom cloud (much less “…so large it would be visible on earth”) as that is an atmospheric effect due to extreme heating and a resulting column of low density superheated air rushing upward until it stagnates. If this is the claim by “the physicist who fronted the project” then I have to question the fundamental credibility of the source. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/62 "2011-03-25T18:19:56Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Oh, yes: [AboveTopSecret.com](http://AboveTopSecret.com), the _World Weekly News_ of conspiracy websites. > > For the record, while the USAF may have conducted a study of what it would take to deliver and detonate a nuclear weapon on the surface of the moon (and there were some concerns in the 'Sixties that the Soviets would get around atmospheric testing restrictions by testing weapons on the far side of the moon, which was patently absurd at that time) what is described in the linked article is absurd. A detonation on the moon would not produce a pyrocumulus mushroom cloud (much less “…so large it would be visible on earth”) as that is an atmospheric effect due to extreme heating and a resulting column of low density superheated air rushing upward until it stagnates. If this is the claim by “the physicist who fronted the project” then I have to question the fundamental credibility of the source. > > Stranger Fine, **Stranger**. If you don’t like that site for a cite, how about these: [Project A119 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119) [http://www.footnote.com/spotlight/10222/nasa\_scientist\_proposes\_exploding/](http://www.footnote.com/spotlight/10222/nasa_scientist_proposes_exploding/) [http://utenti.multimania.it/paoloulivi/nuke.html](http://utenti.multimania.it/paoloulivi/nuke.html) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/63 "2011-03-25T18:38:04Z")
If anyone is really interested, I plan to run in 2012 on a “Nuke the Moon” platform. It’s time for America to Man-UP. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/64 "2011-03-25T19:15:14Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > If anyone is really interested, I plan to run in 2012 on a “Nuke the Moon” platform. It’s time for America to Man-UP. Better hope Gru doesn’t steal it first. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/65 "2011-03-25T20:29:24Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > If anyone is really interested, I plan to run in 2012 on a “Nuke the Moon” platform. It’s time for America to Man-UP. That [plan](http://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm) was old, when this thread was new. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/66 "2011-03-27T11:46:22Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > That [plan](http://www.imao.us/docs/NukeTheMoon.htm) was old, when this thread was new. :smack: OK, fair enough. But the article contains a Google Ad for Master’s in Diplomacy, and that made me laugh… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/67 "2011-03-27T15:14:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Fine, **Stranger**. > If you don’t like that site for a cite, how about these: [Project A119 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119) > [http://www.footnote.com/spotlight/10222/nasa\_scientist\_proposes\_exploding/](http://www.footnote.com/spotlight/10222/nasa_scientist_proposes_exploding/) > [http://utenti.multimania.it/paoloulivi/nuke.html](http://utenti.multimania.it/paoloulivi/nuke.html) There is a world of difference between an informal proposal or a study and an actual plan which dedicates funding, hardware, and personnel to a defined mission. Also cites with big flashing pop-ups trying to load malware onto the viewer’s system do not enhance credibility. Just saying. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/68 "2011-03-27T15:39:51Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > There is a world of difference between an informal proposal or a study and an actual plan which dedicates funding, hardware, and personnel to a defined mission. Agreed. But In never said that there was a plan - just a desire. ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/69 "2011-03-27T15:48:36Z")
Out of curiosity, what would it look like from earth, to the unaided eye, if we detonated a large nuclear device on the surface of the moon? Something tells me it wouldn’t be _that_ spectacular. Would it look like much more than a point of light appearing for a second or two? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083/70 "2011-03-27T16:17:31Z")
> [@SmithCommaJohn](#): > > Out of curiosity, what would it look like from earth, to the unaided eye, if we detonated a large nuclear device on the surface of the moon? Something tells me it wouldn’t be _that_ spectacular. > > Would it look like much more than a point of light appearing for a second or two? The thread that re-animated this one. > **[How visible would a really big nuclear detonation be if set off on the surace...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601755)** > > Let’s say President Obama sets up a Department of Doing Awesome Things, and the first program is to detonate a huge thermonuclear weapon on the surface of the Moon, “just because it will be so awesome.” government sources state. Let us further... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-they-have-dropped-a-nuclear-bomb-on-the-moon/505083.md?page=3)