Feb 162013
A photo from the Los Alamos National Lab webpage of the fireball from the Greenhouse-George nuclear test, May 9, 1951. This was the first fusion “boosted” bomb, with a small increase in yield due to deuterium & tritium fusion, but a large increase in yield due to fast neutrons from the fusion reaction boosting the efficiency of the fissioning process. The yield was an impressive 225 kilotons… less than half of yesterdays meteor explosion.
The test was in broad daylight, but the brightness of the fireball at this stage far exceeded sunlight, and makes it look like a night test.
