Was a Nuclear bomb ever tested in Space?

Factual Questions
1

Was a Nuclear Bomb ever tested in space?

I heard that it was and the resulting EMP knocked out the electronics of the High-Altitude Aeroplanes at the time.

Is this true?

Q2:
Does anyone know what the largest Bomb ever tested was?

PerfectDark

2

I thought I remembered this coming up before…
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=7926

3

In addition to the low-yield tests mentioned in the previous thread (Operation Argus, 1-2 kiltons at 300 miles altitude in 1958), there was a 1.5 Megaton test at an altitude of 248 miles in 1962 (Starfish Prime test, part of Operation Dominic (Argus and Dominic were both American Operations). Some of the effects of the EMP from Starfish Prime were discussed in this thread

The largest nuclear bomb actually tested was about 57 Megatons, tested by the USSR in 1962. The Soviets also claimed to have a 100-Megaton bomb, which they never tested. In general, a lot of small bombs can do more damage than one big one, so the really huge Soviet bombs were more for propaganda than strategy. The largest bomb ever tested by the U.S. was about 20 Megatons, tested in 1954. The biggest warheads in the current U.S. arsenal are probably not much more than 1 Megaton.

4

According to FAS.org, the largest ever detonated by the US was Operation Castle, Shot Bravo, at 15Mt. I seem to recall there being one good for between 20 and 25Mt though. I’ll check when I get home.

Bibliophage is right on when he says that several small bombs are better than one huge one. That pesky inverse-square law ruins everything. heh