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In the late 1950's the U.S. military had laid plans to detonate a thermonuclear warhead on the Moon. They hoped to measure its effects later either with manned or unmanned spacecraft. Here is a link to this entirely insane project.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/techn...w-up-the-moon/ar-BBTjMu1?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=iehp

Assuming they managed to succeed and given the technology of the time I think it likely they might have I have a few questions.

  1. How big would the yield of the bomb have to be in order to be seen from the Earth? This was meant to be partially for propaganda purposes.
  2. What launch vehicle would they have used at that time to get the warhead to the Moon?
  3. How would the explosion have affected the Moon?
  4. Part of the Project involved a manned exploration of the site once the technology became available. Would the site be safe to visit by 1969 assuming the space race went as it did in OTL?
  5. What would have been the reaction to the explosion back here on Earth?
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