# If we nuked the moon, could we see it from Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636 "2012-12-01T01:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/1 "2012-12-01T01:37:33Z")
I can’t be the only one curious about [this](http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/science-updates/nuke-the-moon-plans)… ---
**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:** [December 1, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/2 "2012-12-01T01:41:30Z")
We did this recently. The consensus was it would be very hard to see with the naked eye. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/3 "2012-12-02T11:23:16Z")
Made one of the funniest [Mr. Show sketches ever!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csj7vMKy4EI) ---
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/4 "2012-12-02T13:53:08Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > We did this recently. > The consensus was it would be very hard to see with the naked eye. wut. that never happened. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/5 "2012-12-02T14:53:58Z")
> [@Cerealbox](#): > > wut. that never happened. Use English, please. > **[Could they have dropped a nuclear bomb on the moon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526701)** > > Had the US or Russia wanted to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon, would they have had the means to get one there? Would those bombs have worked on those conditions (vacuum, low grav, etc)? Could it have been a manned mission (dropped from moon... > **[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... ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/6 "2012-12-02T16:03:25Z")
There was a plan to do this, called Project A119. > **[Project A119](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119)** > > Project A119, also known as A Study of Lunar Research Flights, was a top-secret plan developed in 1958 by the United States Air Force. The aim of the project was to detonate a nuclear bomb on the Moon, which would help in answering some of the mysteries in planetary astronomy and astrogeology. If the explosive device detonated on the surface, and not in a lunar crater, the flash of explosive light would have been faintly visible to people on Earth with their naked eye. This was meant as a sho... The science team involved believed the effects would be visible, and that was with a very small weapon. A large city-buster would certainly be visible if you were watching at the right time. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/7 "2012-12-02T16:51:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There was a plan to do this, called Project A119. > > [Project A119 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_A119) > > The science team involved believed the effects would be visible, and that was with a very small weapon. A large city-buster would certainly be visible if you were watching at the right time. So there were _two_ project A119s? The one I linked to in my OP, and the one in your Wiki link? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/8 "2012-12-07T23:14:30Z")
I’m sorry, but it’s simply too cool to not be linked to twice. If they put this to a worldwide referendum asking if everyone on earth shuld be taked to pay to set off nuclear bombs on the moon, I’d quit my job to work for the “yes” campaign. Nuking the moon is 1,000 megatons of awesome. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/9 "2012-12-07T23:18:59Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m sorry, but it’s simply too cool to not be linked to twice. > > If they put this to a worldwide referendum asking if everyone on earth shuld be taked to pay to set off nuclear bombs on the moon, I’d quit my job to work for the “yes” campaign. Nuking the moon is 1,000 megatons of awesome. You’ve been watching too much _Space: 1999_ If anything, nuking the moon would be even less impressive than the _Transit of Venus_ snoozefest. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-nuked-the-moon-could-we-see-it-from-earth/642636/10 "2012-12-07T23:48:32Z")
And the [companion thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15773922#post15773922)… (similar topic but different enough that I didn’t want to derail this thread).