May 4 2000
From The Space Library
Nature published a letter from physicist Leonard Reiffel revealing that, during the Cold War in the 1950s, the United States had funded a research program focused on detonating a nuclear bomb on the Moon, part of a plan to demonstrate the strength of the U.S. military. The Armour Research Foundation now a part of Illinois Institute of Technology had directed the project, known as A Study of Lunar Research Flights. Astronomer Carl Sagan, then a young graduate student, had worked on the project. As Reiffel explained, Cold War politics had dramatically affected science agendas during the period: "There was lots of talk on the part of the Air Force about the [M] oon being `military high ground'." The scenario had called for the U.S. Air Force to launch a small nuclear device from an undisclosed location and detonate it on the Moon. Those planning the detonation had selected an atomic bomb, because a hydrogen explosive would have been too heavy for a rocket to carry 238,000 miles (383,000 kilometers) to the lunar landing spot. Military leaders eventually called off the plan because of concern that, during the building and launch of the bomb, a nuclear accident could occur on Earth.
Astronomers using the telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico captured the first-ever images of the so-called Metal Dog Bone asteroid, officially named 216 Kleopatra. Scientists had categorized the asteroid as a main-belt asteroid, theorizing that the New Jersey-sized rock was the result of an ancient, violent collision. Steven Ostro of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory called the find "one of the most unusual asteroids we've seen in the solar system." Scientists made the discovery by bouncing radar signals off the asteroid and cataloging the signals' echoes. By gathering a comprehensive collection of echoes, the research team had been able to assemble a computer model of the asteroid's shape. The use of radar signals with a moderately powered telescope had made the long-distance discovery possible. Ostro marveled at the technology, describing the find as akin to "using a Los Angeles telescope the size of the human eye's lens to image a car in New York." Many of the astronomers working on the project spoke of their amazement at the size, shape, and metallic complexion of the asteroid. They also clarified that the asteroid posed no danger to Earth.
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