Operation Dominic Nuclear Tests 1962 US Joint Task Force 8; USAF 1352d Photo Group

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Operation Dominic: '36 atmospheric nuclear devices detonated in the Pacific Proving Ground from April to November 1962. It was the last atmospheric nuclear test series conducted by the United States. Also, Dominic I was the largest and most elaborate U.S. testing operation ever conducted. In geographic terms, the diagnostic stations receiving data from the tests covering more than 15 million square miles.

According to the video, Operation Dominic I was prompted by the "Soviet resumption of testing in 1961 after a three-year moratorium." The three main purposes of the series were the "proof testing" of new weapon designs, mainly thermonuclear; obtaining weapons effects data as it related to the electromagnetic pulse phenomenon and attenuation of radar; and obtaining data related to the offensive and defensive aspects of an incoming ballistic missile in a detonation environment.

Dominic I tests were conducted in three general locations: Johnston Island, airdrop and high-altitude detonations; Christmas Island, staging area for 24 airdrop tests; and the open ocean, launch of a Polaris missile from a submarine and subsequent detonation of a device in a reentry vehicle, and the detonation of a device carried by an antisubmarine rocket (ASROC).

Approximately 28,000 military and civilian personnel participated in the test series. More than 200,000 tons of supplies, construction materials, and diagnostic equipment were shipped or airlifted to the test areas.

Most of the devices were detonated in the air after being dropped from a B-52 bomber. Five high-altitude bursts, designated as Operation Fishbowl tests, were lofted by rockets. Their purpose was to study the effects of nuclear detonations as defensive weapons against incoming ballistic missiles...'

Originally a public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dominic

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Operation Dominic was a series of 31 nuclear test explosions with a 38.1 Mt total yield conducted in 1962 by the United States in the Pacific. This test series was scheduled quickly, in order to respond in kind to the Soviet resumption of testing after the tacit 1958–1961 test moratorium. Most of these shots were conducted with free-fall bombs dropped from B-52 bomber aircraft. Twenty of these shots were to test new weapons designs; six to test weapons effects; and several shots to confirm the reliability of existing weapons. The Thor missile was also used to lift warheads into near-space to conduct high-altitude nuclear explosion tests; these shots were collectively called Operation Fishbowl.

Operation Dominic occurred during a period of high Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, since the Cuban Bay of Pigs Invasion had occurred not long before. Nikita Khrushchev announced the end of a three-year moratorium on nuclear testing on August 30, 1961, and Soviet tests recommenced on September 1, initiating a series of tests that included the detonation of Tsar Bomba. President John F. Kennedy responded by authorizing Operation Dominic. It was the largest nuclear weapons testing program ever conducted by the United States and the last atmospheric test series conducted by the U.S., as the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed in Moscow the following year.

The operation was undertaken by Joint Task Force 8...