Science: Bombs on High

Teak was the name of the first of two high-altitude H-bombs set off by the U.S. over the Pacific near Johnston Island last summer. Lifted 40 miles above the earth by a Redstone missile, the bomb was detonated a few minutes before midnight. Out of the blackness came a fireball that grew to eleven miles in width in less than half a second and could be seen in Hawaii, 700 miles to the northeast. Its multicolored aurora was observed 3,000 miles away in Samoa. Some nights later a similar device, called Orange, was fired...

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