U.S. had plans to nuke the moon
By Brian Todd and Dugald McConnell
You could easily skip by it in an archive search: a project titled "A Study of Lunar Research Flights." Its nickname is even more low-brow: "Project A-119."
But the reality was much more explosive.
It was a top-secret plan, developed by the U.S. Air Force, to look at the possibility of detonating a nuclear device on the moon.
It was hatched in 1958 - a time when the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a nuclear arms race that would last decades and drive the two superpowers to the verge of nuclear war. The Soviets had also just launched Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite. The U.S. was falling behind in the space race, and needed a big splash.
"People were worried very much by (first human in space Soviet cosmonaut Yuri) Gagarin and Sputnik and the very great accomplishments of the Soviet Union in those days, and in comparison, the United States was feared to be looking puny. So this was a concept to sort of reassure people that the United States could maintain a mutually-assured deterrence, and therefore avoid any huge conflagration on the Earth," said physicist Leonard Reiffel, who led the project.
Reiffel, now 85, spoke to CNN at his home in Chicago. A 1959 report Reiffel wrote on the project, declassified many years ago, was obtained online by CNN.
According to Reiffel's report, "The motivation for such a detonation is clearly threefold: scientific, military and political."
The military considerations were frightening. The report said a nuclear detonation on the moon could yield information "...concerning the capability of nuclear weapons for space warfare." Reiffel said that in military circles at the time, there was "discussion of the moon as military high ground."
That included talk of having nuclear launch sites on the moon, he said. The thinking, according to Reiffel, was that if the Soviets hit the United States with nuclear weapons first and wiped out the U.S. ability to strike back, the U.S. could launch warheads from the moon.
"These are horrendous concepts," Reiffel said, "and they are hopefully going to remain in the realm of science fiction for the rest of eternity."
The basic plan, Reiffel explained, was for an intercontinental ballistic missile to be launched from an undisclosed location, travel some 240,000 miles to the moon, and detonate on impact. Various news reports since 1958 have said project leaders considered using an atom bomb the same size as "Little Boy," the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, near the end of World War II.
Reiffel, who was cited for that information in those reports, now says he wasn't in on those discussions.
Contrary to some reports, Reiffel told CNN, the device would not have "blown up" the moon. "Absolutely not. It would have been microscopic, so to speak. It would have been, I think, essentially invisible from the Earth, even with a good telescope."
Reiffel had some brilliant minds on his team. One of them was an up-and-coming graduate student named Carl Sagan. Sagan went on to become one of the world's most renowned astronomers, creating the book and popular TV series "Cosmos."
But after working on the moon program, Reiffel said, Sagan violated security when he mentioned the still-classified project on a job application. "He did formally break the classification status of the project", Reiffel said of Sagan, who subsequently died in 1996.
Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan, told CNN she's not sure if Sagan ever broke the classification, but if he did, she said, it wasn't intentional. "I can't imagine he would have done that knowingly," Druyan said.
By 1959, Project A-119 was drawing more concern than excitement.
"We didn't want to clutter up the natural radioactivities of the moon with additional bits of radioactivity from the Earth," Reiffel said. The project was abandoned.
Project planners also weren't sure of the reliability of the weapons, and feared the public backlash in the U.S. would be significant," Reiffel said.
"It disappeared in the files of the Pentagon", he said of the project. "They come up with what I believe was the right answer."
Contacted by CNN, the Air Force would not comment on Project A-119.
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
wHY DONT THEY (USA) NUKE THEIR MOTHERS
HAHAHA
good one
Yet
the
world
let this people in charge ?
Best comment...
That's Hott!!
US could as well nuke "earth"....
Well I know that most Americans probably think because Neil and Buzz planted the Stars and Stripes on the moon that they own the bloody thing (and yes I know this apparent plan preceded that), but gees if you want to test your nuclear arms do it in your own backyard.
Ummm... we did.
well, our flag IS there...so, legally, it is our moon.
No flag, no country! you can't have it!
No One can own anything in space. The Outer Space Treaty was signed in 1967 and states that no nation can claim a planet or any other celestial body in space.
The Outer Space treaty of 1967, signed by 100 countries including the US, Russia, and China, forbids any government from claiming a celstial body like the Moon, and prohibits them from deploying nuclear weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit, outer space, or on any celestial body.
Please learn some history.
the treaty only matters if we choose to honor it.
Somebody hasn't been watching his Eddie Izzard. Smacking a flag on it is 9/10s of the law! 😉
C'mon! There were no radios on the moon back then. So there couldn't have been any radioactivity there!
I'm going to assume that's a joke, and laugh with you. If it's not, then I'm sorry I'm just laughing at you.
Come on, it is clearly a joke, and not a bad one.,
What a joke mate.....ha ha ha ha ha...
Sorry to report: much ado about nothing.
Oh, yes, I know, it sounds positively horrifying. "Nuking" the Moon. Imagine. Yet the fact remains it wouldn't have done much.
The most visible manifestation - an "air-burst" - wouldn't have disturbed much because there's no air on the Moon. No atmospheric shockwave to level non-existent buildings and infrastructure.
A ground-burst would have churned up a lot of dust, true. But after creating that cloud, one that might have orbited the Moon as a cloud filling several thousand cubic miles - think of it as a big torus - for a few centuries, it would have floated back to the Moon's surface.
As for irradiating the Moon - well, the Moon receives far more radiation from the Sun every few days than it might receive from an A-Bomb or H-Bomb blast striking its surface.
Oh, by the way, a large meteor or small asteroid (essentially, the same thing) striking the Moon's surface at 35,000 mph, more-or-less standard speed in this part of the Solar System, would be far, far, far more destructive, given the kinetic energy stored as momentum and mass of the objects involved. Yet even after receiving this hammer-blow, the Moon itself would survive.
NASA did a much smaller-scale experiment a few years ago, where a couple ton impactor hit the moon at about 6000 mph. It proved the presence of water, but also showed that the scientists greatly overestimated the plume that would result from any impact. So this guy is probably correct, we wouldn't be able to see it from Earth even with a decent telescope.
Even though we see it every day, 240,000 miles is still quite a long ways off to try to make out any sort of small events like a single explosion.
I would expect the flash from a nuclear detonation on the moon to be easily visible in telescopes. Amateur astronomers have recorded flashes from small meteors striking the moon many times. The energy levels would be similar.
I read this on Cracked about a month ago
And we are afraid of Iran look at our mentality....
Hopefully – we have grown out of that mentality. Iran is still very questionable.
Col. Corso talked about this in his book. This difference being that we did launch the nuke. It disappeared in transit to the Moon. Guess why?
Keep that tin foil hat firmly attached.
LMAO!
Thats DOCTOR Evil.... I didn't go to 8 years of evil medical school to be called "Mister". Now, get me the United Nations!
The research of America's highly paid brightest and most evil minds. Not much has changed has it?
Took you long enough, RT News had this story well before you guys.
Bad reporting. That was not a "plan". It was a "study", which is extremely different. There's nothing wrong (other than the wasted money) in doing a study on nuking the moon. The study itself could provide valuable information, both scientific and military (for example, the answer to the question: could the Russians do this? would it be a threat to us if they did?). A plan requires commitment, or at least some level of intent. As far as I can see none of the people involved had any plans to do it. They were just trying to find out if it was possible and what would the implications be.
Yes, the United States DID NOT have a plan to nuke the moon. A single organization within the US AIr Force came up with such a plan. For the United States to actually nuke the moon, both houses of congress would have to fund it and the President would need to approve it. Funny, even "physicist Leonard Reiffel, who led the project" and "was cited for that information in those reports, now says he wasn't in on those discussions." Another example of taking wacko trivia and inflating it into a headline.
The plan to nuke the moon in the '60s was probably to prevent Dr. Evil from building his super laser in case Austin Powers failed... ;-D
No mames guey! ... Pinches americanos pendejos!
Chinga su madre!
Nuking the moon no matter how "microscopic" to us could be viewed as an act of aggression. Any reasonable thinking person knows we're not alone. Just sayin.
Aggression against whom? Moonies?
This thread is the lolest I've ever read .... kind of contrasts with the subject matter.... well.... what if the moon is hollow? what if you distub the secret bases on the dark side? what if they r watching us? bla bla bla .. thats my contribution.
"lolest"?
Actually, we DO need BOTH parties - Republican and Democrat - strong and healthy at same time. Democrats are the lenient mamas, buying the little banana cheese eaters candy and letting them play with their x-boxes while texting. The Republicans are the disciplinarian papas - fiscal and theological. We need a equal balance of both for a healthy "New America." But the little banana cheese eaters want "All Mama" and "No Papa."
Wait.. let me guess: FAT, UGLY, DATELESS, LONELY, BITTER. Right?
It was funnier the 8th time you said it.
The moon was blown up in 1999. I saw it on tv.
We are not supposed to discuss Moon Base Alpha...
REPUGLICANS NO BUENO!
George Washington warned in his farewell address that if we allowed political parties to take hold they would do exactly what they have done: hold us hostage with the horrors of our current system in which the party matters more than anything else. These two parties are complicit in keeping themselves in power and keeping other out. If we have to have parties, we should have several and create a system that gives all an equal chance.
Finally! Someone with a clue!
Thank you for being a voice of reason in this insanity.
Not sure which Dems and Repubs you're talking about. That comment is just silly and doesn't hold any value to it at all. Internet comedians...gotta love em!
The new American Traditional Family: Deadbeat Pimp Daddies and High Punch Drunk Sugar Mamas - Kids making up their own rules, and eating off Free Government Banana Cheese. What does CNN expect?
Remember.......Romney wanted to put Americans back to work. But the Banana Cheese eating group was afraid of the word ..."WORK"...So they voted for the person that would continue giving the hand outs
Are you for real???? I guess stupidity runs abundantly in your blood stream...
Yep, this is what controls the once great Republican party.... pathetic eh?
M David – Please don't spawn any children. Your genetic code needs to end.
Grow up. Maybe you should consider the possibility that you are wrong. Especially if you base your opinions on a news source that is widely accepted by rational people to make up stuff and be the least impartial of all the partial news outlets out there.
A strong economy supports traditional family values - the banana cheese suckers want to blame a poor economy on traditional family values. Jackie Gleason never sent Alice to the moon, little stinky Obambi-Poo toe jam eaters.
Lance.... I totally agree with you. This past election was won by the votes of un educated Obama-Poo followers. The 47% ers with their hand out. Wake up America, we are heading in the wrong direction
LOL! Romney is a loser.
Now that M David ha granted the internet with his internet wisdom, we can all rest a little more easily! Thanks M David! Oh, where did you develop your dissertation for your PhD in American Political Science? You make loads of sense and I'm honored to have you amongst us!
Oooh! Don't be a poopy-head!
Obama killed nasa and supports leaches
LOL! Romney lost.
Sorry to have to point it out, but there was a very valid scientific point to be made in 'nuking' the moon. The US was very interested in going to the moon, and had very limited capabilities for analyzing what the moon's surface was composed of. This would have been a relatively cheap, and very low risk way to determine a great deal about the surface without risking any lives. From the knowledge base of the 50s, this was an excellent idea. And just to point it out, a rocket failure would not have resulted in the bomb exploding. Nuclear weapons are actually very difficult to detonate, by design. Pushing your perspective onto people in the past is one of the greatest failings of PC education; get over it.
NASA intentionally crashed something up there not too long ago, just to scan the debris kicked up for elements (specifically water). So yeah, hitting it with something that would have kicked up more debris, were you to do a test like that in the 50s with lower tech equpment, would have been beneficial.
The moon was blown up in 1999. I saw it on tv.
We are not supposed to discuss Moon Base Alpha...
The moon is bigger and better enough to survive lack of small Obambi-Poo plans. Bigger cuts for smaller revenue would work very well. Three or four for one is purr-fect.
Wait.. let me guess: FAT, UGLY, DATELESS, LONELY, BITTER. Right?
If Obambi-Poo tells you that the moon is made of green banana cheese, then the blind obamice better hope he will give them a big free box of saltines.
You do know the election is over with? Better luck next time...
Obambi-Poo can suck out "Big Gerrymander Banana Cheese"
I know what you mean.
Calm down and take a deep breathe. Your guy lost get up go to work in the morning and move on with your life.
The Obamabi-POO Banana Cheesehead will remain impotent until impeached
Why don't you like democracy?
Wait.. let me guess: FAT, UGLY, DATELESS, LONELY, BITTER. Right?
Oh fer crying out loud, you pansies...
The prospect of having nukes on the moon is not "horrendous" like the author of the article states. It's really no big deal, and actually a very good idea. And don't give me that CNN liberal-esque bs about "blowing up the moon". Any nuclear explosion on the moon would be miniscule. Yes, it's smaller than the earth, but it's still HUGE!
What a bunch of limp-wristed panty-waists.........
I agree that it is a bit of a tempest in a teapot. But which part of popping a nuke on the moon is specifically a good idea? Why?
Do you care to explain WHY unilaterally militarizing the moon is a good idea, or was the point of your post simply to see the fruit of your vacuous head in print?
I see absolutely no benefit to any of us in such an endeavor. All you are doing is engaging in saber-rattling. Your testosterone levels are falling, and you're feeling your masculinity slip away as quickly as your hairline is receding, so you need to make some public show of potency. But we see through it, just as we could when you bought a muscle car during your midlife crisis. You are an impotent, warmongering fool.
And of course placing nuclear arms (or arms of any kind for that matter) would of course require the US to be in contravention of the Outer Space Treaty that it has of course signed and ratified.
Sure. Nuke one of our protecting orbiters. A celestial body that has run interference for us by stopping meteors and asteroids from entering our atmosphere. Not to mention the impact it would have had on our orbit. Glad it didn't come about.
There is so much wrong with that I have no idea what to say.
Nuking the moon wth one small nuke would be about as damaging as shooting a tank with a BB gun. Look at it, its sustained much bigger impacts than we could ever throw at it... and as far as the radiation goes.... Its in SPACE! Its constantly bombarded by cosmic radiation.
Sheldon Cooper: How could someone possibly think they're going to blow up the moon?
Thanks! I'm still laughing!
But I don't like the moon, "nuke it."
The Moon is what keeps the Earth stable, and the tides have encouraged life. The Moon is why you are here to complain about it! LOL
CNN needs to hip the Obambi-Poo Poo crowd about the REAL Susan Rice - let me help: Susan Was Undersec of State back in 1998 for Dark Africa. The American embassy was attacked and people died violently. Susan Rice had access to classified info about Benghazi PRIOR to her prancing around Sunday shows. Susan Rice is "well educated and intelligent -well qualified" for Sec of State as Obambi-Poo Poo throws out. Susan Rice should have experienced some strong DEJAVU-VOO but failed to act on it. Why not? Guess it was the "Obama Stare" and more "banana cheese."
I hope you are a troll. I really do. For your sake. I mean it..
Je ne veux pas de merde
You certainly talk a lot about it.
Ok lance, time for your mommy to take you away from the computer and throw you out the window! Moron
Put down the crack pipe and step away from the computer....Lance Poo Poo. Whatta weirdo!
You are not fooling anyone. No one is as dumb as you pretend to be.
What is Obambi-Poo Poo, banana cheese and other things in your post? Maybe I have to sink to the level of a child resorting to idiotic name calling for it to make sense to me, but I'm not sure what those mean. Is this a post for adults or children, because all I see is 5 year old behavior (watch a playground for a few minutes and you'll see the resemblance) towards the CINC that is completely unrelated to CNNs worthless story (get it together CNN).
I definitely have no love for Obama Lance, but dude, you seriously need to take a step back and breathe lol. You're strung tighter than a banjo.
Josh,
I am not sure where in America you get your education, but either you were thought the wrong thing or you did not fully understand it. The Hollow moon is a theory. Therefore is in not yet a fact and need evidence to move from theory yo facts. You need to understand the difference between theory and facts.
Despite all the advancement in science and technology, it appears that the government is still run by a bunch of idiots.
what is banana cheese?
Banana Cheese? Schizophrenic word salad, someone must have skipped their meds today.
When (or IF) Gov. Romney shows up @ W.H. for "free lunch," hope he doesn't have to suffer fresh Deval Patrick "banana cheese" breath on Obambi-Poo Poo's breath - that might mean Pati-Poo is hiding near them somewhere hungry for more. That aside, Budget negotiators also have to consider STATE liability as added layers of the cost of doing business. Consider New York State and California for example. State taxes, user fees, gasoline and cigarette taxes, and additional layers added by the metro NYC area. Raising FEDERAL tax on TOP of all that will KILL small businesses for sure. Does Team Obama care? Nah, but the Congressional GOP knows about STATE BURDEN well. Sorry, Poo Poo. Guess you' would be better off in the Big Bird Berkshire Love Nest with Boston Hot Lips.
And this is front page material why?
cnn has become the laughing stock of news casts. nothing but useless information and propaganda.
Fox better watch out for the competi.tion then.
I especially like the implication that the government had Sagan killed in 1996 after revealing the program.
I especially like that it was Project A-119 (Pixar)
It says "nukular", so by goodness sakes, this'll get them eyeballs! Next on the news – $7 coffee!
A better story would be about a project called Starfish Prime. Detonation of a Nuclear War head about 650 Miles above the Earth on July 9th 1962, destroying 10 communications Sattelites incuding the newly luanched Telsat bird. It cause long term problems to HF communications in the Pacific to New Zealand for about 4 weeks afterward , and some other lingering effects that Occur in the region about every 16 years, when these effect occur, the US Navy restricts and area of Airspace in the region and a large area of the pacific ocean in the area for "War Games", the label they put on it, they just don't want anyone knowing what the effect that occurs every 16 or so years in that are is. Here's your interesting story CNN, go after it. Starfish Prime
A disjointed comment but apparently an actual event. Detonation was 250 miles up tho, not 650...
Sorry, I am an old man now, I don't see so well and yes I am typing on a mobile phone device. I attempted a follow up with
iinfo about the 40 page classified report on the "Lingering effects", and it did not post. These is a 40 or so page report written in 1969 About possible lingering effects due to SFP, and no one will reveal the info for fear of being tossed in the clink, really too bad, the world deserves to know what that was really all about and what the "lingering effect" is, sooner or later it will come out, I may note around to see it happen , but it will.
Well, I tend to be very liberal in my political views but this is a very good case for smaller government. They don't want to look puny so a bunch of military idiots wanted to risk shooting a nuclear warhead into space with 50's technology and risk possibly having it blow up in the atmosphere!! Idiots,Idiots, Idiots!!!!!!! We have so much suffering in this world and so much resource is wasted on war machines.
Behold a Pale Horse William Copper had this in his book a looooooooooooong time ago.
Well, they were kind of limited to 50's technology with the only real options being previous decades....
The sheer volume of your righteous concern is duly noted. You're right on the cusp of crossing over to Holy Man status.
You can't really claim they were stupid when they decided it was a bad idea and didn't do it. What about the guy who needs some cash and thinks about robbing a store then thinks again and deciders "dumb idea" and doesn't do it.
You rang?
if only Newt had won we could have done it!
That would have really upset Klaatu
ROFL!!!
Why do we have to put up every little thing we do, secret or not, for the world's POS countries to comment on, as you will no doubt see here.
Because only in your POS country some one can come up with an idea of nuking moon, just because your POS people were lagging behind Russians in space exploration.
Glad the POS plan was aborted, can you imagine the world without the moon? Let's say the oceans would be washing out every city in the world, actually we'd be like a huge Venice. Great waves and awesome surfing, but no life thought
As opposed to your backward country that couldn't even begin to dream about doing anything with the moon except look at it and read about what Americans do with it.
Because even our screw-ups are greater than what most countries manage to accomplish in a good decade. I think what torques the world off the most about us is that we've held so much influence over the world but most of our citizens couldn't find Spain on a map and are proud of it.
The United States DID NOT have a plan to nuke the moon. A single organization within the US AIr Force came up with such a plan. For the United States to actually nuke the moon, both houses of congress would have to fund it and the President would need to approve it. Funny, even "physicist Leonard Reiffel, who led the project" and "was cited for that information in those reports, now says he wasn't in on those discussions." Another example of taking wacko trivia and inflating it into a headline.
Hmm
If they nuked the moon could you see it from Sarah Palin's house?
That stale joke might've been funny four years ago.
I see you still mourn her loss.
Who?
Mostly likely it would have fallen back to earth after launch. Kaboom.
"most likely?" based on what? How stupid are you?
These guys may have been geniuses but they were all idiots to think up this hair brained scheme of machismo. I bet they considered melting the north pole with a nuclear device to drown Russia. We are all lucky to be alive with the nut cases that were running around in the 50's and 60's
Yes, we are.
You have to understand the mentality at the time. People were terrified of nukes.
Watch the movie "ladybug, ladybug".
Actually, this would have been really interesting. If aliens are out there, 1 thing that would definitely get their attention would be to start detonating nukes in space.
Nah, that would be like throwing fire cra.ckers in California and worrying about the Chinese government complaining about the noise.
"Nice."
Wait, I think I saw this one. Didn't it star Bruce Willis and Liv Tylers mouth?
Ah yes in a race to capture the space bridge capsules?
What's so surprising about the military and scientist brainstroming during the heighth of the Cold War? Even with a fantastic idea like this? In 1958 we hadn't even managed to put a man in space let alone get something near the moon, so this clearly wasn't a serious proposition of any kind. Pulling it out of a dustbin now may be interesting, but its just stupid to try and make something sensational out of it!!!
That's CNN for you, buddy.
Perhaps, there were also conspiracy theories that the plan was a cover-up to nuke the aliens hiding on the dark side of the moon.
I hate to disappoint you, but there is no "dark side of the moon" unless you mean the album by Pink Floyd.
There certainly is a 'dark side' of the Moon. It is the night side of the Moon currently facing away from the sun. The Earth has a dark side too. You experience it once every 24 hours. The mistake is when people use the term 'dark side' when they mean the Moon's 'far side'. The far side of the Moon is alternately dark and light every 4 weeks just like the rest of the moon. Anyone who has ever looked at the Moon has seen its dark side come and go.
Interesting. Perhaps this was the first derived response following the discovery of the crashed Autobot spacecraft on the dark side of the moon. But upon realization that we may benefit from technological advances from exploring it we decided to send Neil and Buzz there instead. Does this mean that right now, as we type that Optimus Prime is out fighting along side our troops somewhere trying to prepare / warm-up for filmingTransformers 4?
"You promised me bases on Mars; instead, you gave me Facebook."
-Buzz Aldrin
Aldrin's comment cuts right to the heart of what a pathetic people Americans have become. Thanks for pointing it out.
I thought I had heard of all the slack-eyed silly azzed schemes to impress the Russians that the government came with in the 50's and 60's, but this is one I missed. Reiffel is right about one thing though. Something the size of "Little Boy" would have been completely invisible. Nobody would have seen it. It would take about 50 megatons to be visible from that far away, and even that wouldn't have been very impressive.
You would be able to see a nuclear explosion on the moon with a good telescope. You can see anything about the size of a soccer field, so an atom bomb going off would probably register.
There is no atmosphere, no oxygen to burn, no fireball... probably a small flash of light, some dust kicked up, some minor disturbing of the surface around the blast.
If it detonated on the far side we wouldn't see squat. But on the near side? Sure. Even in daylight when the moon is full. A really bright flash during new moon. But you would have to be looking right at it because the flash would last only a split second. It would look like a flash bulb going off from far away.
NEVER trust the military or the arms manufacturers that own them.
Canned Heat wrote the awesome song "Poor Moon" about exactly this in the late 60's
As Einstein said, "Genius has limits but idiocy knows no bounds". Eventually, enough people will realize that the politicians in DC are not looking after our best interest – then, we dance.
It's kind of sad that this is the top story on cnn.com. I read about this project on Cracked six months ago.
The truly sad bit of that comment is that you read Cracked.
What a bunch of fools.
There was much progress in the last 44 years: US scientists and military have very different plans for the moon now.
They want to turn it into Death Star!
I remember when the US first landed on the moon. I think a poet lamented guys golfing on the lunar surface and
wished they'd send a poet. Jeez, we aren't able to leave an age old romantic symbol for the kids? Blowing stuff up
here and there? Sheesh.
Ahh yes, the pilot/poets of yore. A breed apart. THEY had the right stuff! Reciting extemporaneous poetry while breaking the sound barrier. Using the Doppler effect to add just the right resonance to a soul piercing phrase that could break your heart....
Alas, they are no more. We nuked them on the moon.
Just another blunder by the U.S. They should have detonated it. Just like how the lauded Apollo program killed off what would have been vastly superior and would have already landed us on all the planets in the solar system; Project Orion. As time goes on, the U.S. and its people become more and more timid, more and more ruled by threats of liability and it is killing scientific innovation and shifting world economic control to the East.
thats what doctor mengele said
...that's what she said...
Shouldn't you be off watching a reality show, like most of your kind?
Surley. there is a mistake here. The writer must have meant it was the Commies who wanted to nuke the man in the moon.
Steveo, seeing that you are a high school teacher, what is more scary is the fact that you don't know the proper spelling is.. "an invading asteroid", not "a invading asteroid"...No wonder our high school students are rated so poorly compared to the rest of the world!
The military has contingency plans for _everything_. This should be no surprise.
Great! So if we're invaded by green moon aliens, we can nuke 'em!
Another insidious plot by Bush and his evil cronies. Those stupid-but-cunningly-evil republicans have a time machine. We must capture it and support our beloved leader as we march to the shining goal of socialism. I also recommend Janet Napolitano for the unfortunately necessary role of Darth Vader. Forward into the past!
It's always a right-wing conspiracy! Always! Those darn Republicans!
"The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force." –Darth Vader
"We are earthlings, we should blow up earth things" -Mr. Show
im glad ike was pres back then and not someone like reagan, nixon, or bush
Pretty partisan of you Andrew you lefty hack. I would not consider Eisenhower an inbreed, nor would I believe he suffered from a low IQ. However, vitriol from the left is to be expected, as is the belief that you so called "progressives" are the enlightened ones.
Lolwut? I bet some guys up in the government just get money for thinking up the stupidest, craziest, and most extreme contingency plans for the most unlikely scenarios. Like nuking all of our cities because of an uprising in urban culture, or maybe killing all of the people in the Northeast to make room for more people to live, or even like annexing Canada to prevent attacks from over the North Pole.
This was really thought out by Hollywood as a SCIFI movie. Hey Hollywood make this movie......not
Oh I remember that project! Thats when american ministry of magic had to intervene to stop a team of pseudo-magicians (they call themselves scientists, what a laugh) from tilting our planet from it's axis by blowing up moon. Dumbledore had to apparate straight into Oval office. Muggles and their shenanigans, I swear!
As an immigrant to US here are my observations of this country.
The good:
If you are here legally, most employers would treat you equal to the white American employees.
The money here is good.
Clean air and water is available to every one.
Most places here are very clean.
Law and order is very well maintained.
Physical assaults are very rare.
This country has a genuine freedom of speech.
The younger people here are very courteous.
The bad:
White people eagerly accept something bad they read about your non western culture. But if its something nice, they will not rest until they poke holes in that story.
Whites consider anything non western as "backward".
The pecking order in this country is
1>White men
2>White women
3>Non white American women
4>Non white American men
5>Foreign colored women
6>Foreign colored men
I see your point: that idea to nuke the moon sure must have came from foreign coloured men!
lol sounds about right. Thank god my ignorant butt is the top of the food chain yum yum yum
...with regards to "backwards", if you've only lived East of the Mississippi, you're going to find people's mentalities to be "backwards". Try living out West, they have it right with how people should treat each other, and live it.
Sincerely,
A white guy.
Yes they sure have it right. Seeing as California consumes 1/3 of our welfare and is on the brink of collapse due to over spending they sure do get it.
No thanks, the 19th century was too long ago to want to revisit. Like Utah for example, the most inbred place on earth.
"More human disease genes have been discovered in Utah than in any other place in the world..."
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/gslc/utah.html
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2005-12-29/news/forbidden-fruit/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/14/us-usa-mormons-genes-idUSN0727298120070614
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635182923/Birth-defect-is-plaguing-children-in-FLDS-towns.html
In terms of the "pecking order", you're right (anyone who looks at US history can come to that conclusion), but I'm pretty sure white people don't try to find an error with everything about other cultures. Please, do not confuse whites with the government. Those idiots will do whatever it is they want if it keeps the population blindly giving them money, which they do nothing good with.
No need to dance around the obvious, the white man's disease is so screamingly evident that it made the NY Times Best Seller List a little while back:
"What's the Matter with White People: Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was"
http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-White-People-Golden/dp/1118141067
Pretty sad and true too, being an immigrant non white male myself. But Im assuming you commented in the wrong story
Hello,
Thank you for your educated comment. You are correct. Todays American left leaning liberal makes it nearly impossible to be proud of America's achievements. They are guilt stricken people who refuse to acknowledge the good their ancestors brought. To them white people are evil and a minority (specifically black) can do no wrong. They are the reason our country is heading towards its demise. You may have immigrated here at the wrong time friend and I apologize for it. Maybe when our system collapses and all the liberals starve to death we will have another shot at something good.
Hey if you don't like the bad then you can always leave and go elsewhere. How about speaking about how Americans, especially white Americans are treated in other countries? Pretty bad in most places and milled or kidnapped in others so again if you don't like what we offer here get the hell out and that is coming from a so called White person that obviously you hate but right back at you.
butt hurt much?
sucks to be you
Good Chinese take out trumps all.
Yes!!!!! I'll take one large Kung Pao chicken with wonton soup and crunchy noodles!
America sucks!
China For The Win!
Suck it long and sick it hard
Sir,
I respectfully ask you to visit the different regions of the USA (Northeast- Everything north of Maryland to Maine, then west to Ohio), Southwest (CA, AZ, NM), South (TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL), Upper and Lower MidWest (ND, SD, WI, MN, IL, IA, IN, MO, NE, OK), Northwest (WA and OR), and Rocky Mountain West (CO, WY, MT, UT), and observe the various socio-economic situations and interactions among people, and also look at the Board of Directors of every Fortune 500, Fortune 100, and start up company, then re-consider your position. Alaska and Hawaii as well. You'll soon find that the pecking order differs depending where you are, the specific company, and ironically, how you dress and carry yourself. For instance, I was at the bottom of the pecking order in Hawaii being a white guy with all my co-workers being Native Hawaiian. A person wearing business attire wil always be treated differenty than someone wearing pop-culture clothing in most cases. Depends where you are. When I wear a suit in south texas to visit a ranch, I'm at the bottom of the list, as everyone else is wearing blue jeans and cowboy hats and I look like "city folk". I've visted 46 states over 20 years, and have lived long term in 7 of them, while holding over 20+ jobs, everything from unskilled labor to executive/business owner. You'll see that the people with ambition are at the top, no matter the color, etc. Anyone can get to the top. Some people get ahead by knowing people or starting off with wealth, but for the most part, those who work hardest get ahead the most. And most of those people are immigrants. This week, I flew in a plane piloted by a black man and a woman first officer, met with a CEO that was Indian, had lunch at an Arabic restaurant in Houston. Welcome to America. Pleased don't let pre-conceived notions hold you back, as it does with most people. The "pecking order" exists in people's heads, and they live their lives with self imposed limits on how much they believe they can succeed, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. People are worth what they think they are worth. And if you get a chance to go through Passport Control/Customs at O'Hare or Atlanta and see the sea of humanity from every country on the planet, you'll see that America is truly a land of opportunity. Best of luck.
ground control to major tom: push the button
Heinlein wrote about the possibility of a manned moon base equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles as early as 1949.
America might have wanted to listen to him.
Yeah nuke that moon! Who needs tidal control on Earth anyway
Right??? I mean I'm at a lost for words. This is some dumb ish.
F the planet, we'll get those commies if its the last thing we do
"'He did formally break the classification status of the project', Reiffel said of Sagan, who subsequently died in 1996."
Coincidence? I think not!
Just think, this was going on while Ike was off playing golf. Who knew???
Well, I guess it is still not to late to do it! Who knows: it may even kill somebody!
This is sure to spark conspiracy theories. Hm, how about this for lunacy: There is a Space Force Base on the dark side of the Moon.
I am already laughing my a** off!
the WTCs were really hit by missiles from a grassy knoll on the moon
Yes, but there was only one alien shooter.
If you watch the movie Iron Sky, you'll see that there is clearly a base of Nazis on the dark side of the moon. They got there first.
Yeah if we cant have it nobody else will.
There are people living there already! Duh!
Who's in charge??
Charles.
Hahaha, ah that was the best comment I've read all day.
There's a 2000 article about this in the Guardian (UK). Look it up. They beat CNN to this scoop over 12 years ago!
...Let's do it!
Surely, there's some mistake here. The writer must mean it was the Commies who were going to nuke the moon?
We have to be very careful about what countries we can trust with nucs.
Ah, just nuke them!
Hey there could have been ... you know .. commies on the moon, I guess...
This doesn't surprise me one bit. We've more than our share of stupid fools in the United States. In fact, we're so incredibly stupid I'm surprised we didn't do it. We're still the stupidest folks on the planet, with half of us towing the tea-party line; a line so incredibly stupid ignorant, it defines the fact that in-breeding and low IQ (a republican virtue) is alive and well – and unimproved as yet – all these many, many years later.
Shhhhhhhh. I WILL bop you on the nose with a rolled up news paper. Their talking about 1950's era people wanting to nuke the moon. Not current day politicians. Claiming the GOP is the only source of foolishness in the world is also worthy of a bopping.
Idiot
Hello Andrew! Hello!
I am yelling because I understand how hard it is for someone with your stratospheric intellect to hear us when your are all the way up on your spite loaded soap box. The superlative form of stupid is most stupid, not stupidest. When you climb back down for milk and cookies time, we can discuss.
It was the Democrat candidate who claimed there was a "missile gap," and Mutual Assured Destruction was a Democrat policy. But, your concern is duly noted. I can see you have everything pretty well figured out here.
Oh, and that Tea Party line? You don't "tow" it. You "toe" it. You're welcome.
Dont worry, obama cut funding to NASA, with the goal that USA will eventually die.
Just google "Bush NASA cuts" and you'll see Jeff is your typical Kool-Aid sippin' Repub idiot pointing the finger at the other side because that's all he *truly* knows. I see Romney and Ryan voted against NASA too...
Now Jeff, you being a Republican, I'd think you'd be happy about cutbacks on government spending? Oh, snap, I forgot... Giving you too much credit, you can't think.
To paraphrase the Eagles: "Obama stared uncomprehendingly, like a cow at a passing train." Obama and science? HA HA HA HA
Ensign: Commander, the rebel base on the moon circling the planet Earth is now in range.
Commander: Excellent. You may fire when ready.
Wooohooo!!! You're all clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!
Rarrrgggrafaawooorgggfff!!!
eff the moon, lets do it
Way too funnnny!!!
being a high school history teacher for over 15 years, I have never heard of this. How could it even be possible when we still do not have the technology to stop a invading asteroid? Sounds like 1950's science fiction fantasy.
I think you mean "an" invading asteroid. Are you joking nuking the moon is easily possible while stopping an asteroid is somewhat impossible. i think you are a kid posting as a teacher i hope.
You obviously never heard of impulse power and fusion reactors. Get an education, double chin.
Actually we ARE capable of stopping an asteriod from doing any serious damage to earth if necessary. The effect of several very large nuclear warheads(which we do possess, in spite of the DOD's protests to the contrary) would be essentially to break the asteroid into several pieces and impart to those pieces enough side vector to cause them miss earth. At least most of them at any rate. We might get hit with 1 or 2 smaller pieces of it, but it would very likely not be the catastrophic event getting hit with whole enchilada would be. Of course this presupposes that we detect this rock while it's still far enough away to give time enough for the pieces to change course enough to miss. All the pessimists who say this won't work don't understand ballistics. All that's necessary to keep two objects in space on a collision course from actually colliding is just change the speed/direction of just one of them by almost any amount, and as long as you do it while they're far enough apart then they will never collide.
You really have no idea what you're talking about. I suggest reading any of Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blogs to see this theory debunked.
Well, the first atomic bomb was developed in 1945 and the first thermonuclear device in 1952. The first unmanned rocket flight to the moon was by the Soviets in 1959, so it is quite conceivable (though disheartening) that the US had begun planning this in 1958.
The moon is a pretty big target and we built rockets that could get there around this time. The nuke wouldn't have done much though. The missile sites on the moon was a bit sci-fi, but if we had committed to doing it, it probably could have been done by the 80s.
Also, we probably have the technology to divert asteroids. Given about a decade lead time, nukes would like not be needed. We could just divert the object. If we got surprised and had much less lead time, nukes would be the option and recent studies show that it would probably work. Recent modelling at Los Alamos has suggested that a 1-megaton nuke could break apart a 500 meter long asteroid enough to keep most of it from hitting the Earth.
Are you serious? What are you talking about? Everyone who was educated in America knows the moon is hollow. I'm so embarrassed for you and ashamed to be an Ameircan. You come off as one of those know it all communist chinese kids. Look who the brainwashed is. Go back to your fake anti-tricky brains country and learn ENGLISH!
By the way, being that you don't know anything about science history, former president Ronald Reagan invented the Star Wars program. You probably never heard of it because you are too busy listening to your stupid music. Anyway, the Star Wars program is a bunch of laser satelites orbiting the earth right now and they protect us from all kinds of asteroids and larger rocks called hemmeroids. The lasers can lock on to the threat and neutralize it. So please odn't spew fake facts about nukes and 500 meters of models in Los Alamos. I just think you're nuts! Good day sir!!!!
Josh: Everyone knows the moon was filled with green cheese by Geebus but Gobless commies stole it all in the 1950s, it's got to be true, my pastor says so 8-D
Josh,
I am not sure where in America you get your educated, but either were thought the wrong thing or you did not fully understand it. The Hollow moon is a theory. Therefore is in not yet a fact and need evidence to move from theory yo facts. You need to understand the difference between theory and facts.
and parody or satire as well methinks.
IIf you think this is crazy, wait until you hear how many nuke power plants Obama wants to build.
Oh, do tell! How many is it? Have you spoken with him lately, or was there some news item I missed about Obama suddenly adopting a position which would be political poison, for no reason whatsoever?
At any rate, since the left seems to be much more opposed to nuclear power than the right, why bother accusing Obama of taking that position to begin with?
I eagerly await your response.
I'd love for Obama to start pushing Nuclear power. That's exactly the kind of large-scale infrastructure project that this country could use to make jobs NOW and take a huge step away from fossil fuels in the future.
Back then they didn't have guidance systems for warheads that could have redirected the bombs enough. If they had to launch one from the farthest side of the moon, it could have gone anywhere. That's scary.
Does not sound unreasonable considering a possible Soviet installation.
...because according to republicans and Karl Rove the inhabitants of the moon possess extensive WMD capabilities and are currently producing new stockpiles. Karl and his crew verified this by an advanced spy program called "making stuff up".
does your psyche ward nurse know that you are using her computer again?
That's not a good look for you – the one with your head up your buttttt...
That's it! That is where those sneaky Iraqis hid all their WMDs!
This is news? Really? This has been publicly known since 2000.