# What went wrong with this nuke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427 "2007-04-10T02:28:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![happywaffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ee59a6/32.png) [@happywaffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happywaffle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/1 "2007-04-10T02:28:55Z")
Digg or Reddit or one of those sites sent me here today: [http://amazingfiltered.blogspot.com/2007/04/nuclear-explosions-photo-collection.html](http://amazingfiltered.blogspot.com/2007/04/nuclear-explosions-photo-collection.html) It’s a pretty disturbing (and oddly beautiful) collection of nuclear bombs going off. Out of the whole bunch, though, [this one](http://bp1.blogger.com/_u_vISdtKDO8/RhqSlLYBHhI/AAAAAAAAB0s/Fgaai2e0Tdo/s1600-h/18282_s__jadernye_vzryvy_49.jpg) stood out. It looks like it failed to make any kind of real mushroom shape, and there’s distinct chunks fluttering back to earth, reminding me of the Challenger. Any idea why it’s different? Did it not go off right? Maybe it’s just smaller than the others? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/2 "2007-04-10T02:33:45Z")
Reminds me of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/3 "2007-04-10T02:34:29Z")
That is mostly just a photo taken soon after the explosion. It takes a while for the mushroom cloud to form. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/4 "2007-04-10T02:38:29Z")
That looks like a [shallow underground burst:](http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/nukeffct/undrgnd.html) > [@](#): > > When a nuclear explosion occurs at a shallow depth underground, the fireball breaks through the surface of the earth within a fraction of a second of the instant of detonation. The intensely hot gases at high pressure are released and they carry up with them into the air large quantities of soil, rock, and debris in the form of a hollow column. For a burst at a shallow depth, the column tends to assume the shape of an inverted cone which fans out as it rises, to produce a radial throw-out. A highly radioactive cloud, which contains large quantities of earth, is formed above the throw-out as the hot vapors cool and condense. Because of the mass displacement of material from the earth’s surface, a crater is formed. For a 100-kiloton weapon exploding 50 feet beneath the surface of dry soil, the crater would be about 120 feet deep and 720 feet across. The weight of the material removed would be over a million tons. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/5 "2007-04-10T02:46:54Z")
**Squink** is right, it was a shallow underground explosion. It’s the [Sedan test](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_%28nuclear_test%29), July 6, 1962, a part of the Plowshare program to test nukes for mining and cratering purposes. It was about 13 miles from the place now known as Area 51. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/6 "2007-04-10T03:47:34Z")
What I’m curious to know is what the little streamers parallel to some of the explosions (like in [this explosion](http://bp1.blogger.com/_u_vISdtKDO8/RhqMdLYBGwI/AAAAAAAABuk/Lm9xr_LHzAU/s1600-h/18282_s__jadernye_vzryvy_5.jpg)) are. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/7 "2007-04-10T04:13:04Z")
Likely, they’re rocket trails, launched before the blast to see what it does to the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/8 "2007-04-10T04:52:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] What I’m curious to know is what the little streamers parallel to some of the explosions (like in [this explosion](http://bp1.blogger.com/_u_vISdtKDO8/RhqMdLYBGwI/AAAAAAAABuk/Lm9xr_LHzAU/s1600-h/18282_s__jadernye_vzryvy_5.jpg)) are. Anyone know? [/QUOTE] My understanding is that they’re to provide a reference grid for folks examining the footage later to get an idea of how big the bang was. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/9 "2007-04-10T05:51:22Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] My understanding is that they’re to provide a reference grid for folks examining the footage later to get an idea of how big the bang was. [/QUOTE] Also I think they hoped to track air-currents and schock waves via these streamer-rockets. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/10 "2007-04-10T06:31:05Z")
Nah, they’re just providing grass clouds for the mushroom clouds to grow in ;). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-this-nuke/399427/11 "2007-04-10T14:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] My understanding is that they’re to provide a reference grid for folks examining the footage later to get an idea of how big the bang was. [/QUOTE] This is it. A colleague of mine who is an expert on nuclear weapons explained to me that they are the trails of rockets sent up just before the blast. The spacing is known so they serve as a yardstick for the size of the blast.