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The largest Nuclear Bomb detonation ever tested
Introduction to the Big Ivan (Tsar Bomba):
- Code Name: Big Ivan (Tsar Bomba)
- Type: Thermonuclear Bomb
- Origin: Soviet Union
- Designers: Yulii Khariton, Andrei Sakharov, Victor Adamsky, Yuri Babayev, Yuri Smirnov and Yuri Trutnev
- Manufacturer: Soviet Union
- Weight: 27,000 kg
- Length: 08 m
- Diameter: 2.10 m
- Blast Yield: 50,000 kilotons (50 Megatons)
The Tsar Bomba (King of Bombs) or RDS-220 or Big Ivan or Soviet Thermonuclear Bomb was detonated in a test over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Ocean on October 30,1961.
The bomb was the largest nuclear weapon ever set off, and produced the most powerful human-made explosion ever recorded in history of nuclear tests.
The bomb was built in a year of 1961 by a group of Soviet Physicists at the time the Cold War between the U.S.S.R. and the United States of America.
History and Development of the Bomb:
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The idea of creating a bomb of this power first appeared on July 10 in the year of 1961 in a meeting between Nikita Khrushchev and the Senior Weapon Designer, Andrei Sakharov.
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The bomb should have had a yield of 100 Megatons, but this was changed in a later stage since a bomb would have posed serious safety issues and it would have affected inhabited parts of Northern Soviet Union.
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The development of the Tsar Bomba was rushed, since Nikita Khrushchev wanted the bomb to be detonated during the 22 Congress of the Communist Party held on October 20 in the year of 1961.
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The development team consisting of Victor Adamskii, Yuri Babaev, Yuri Smirnov and Yuri Trutnev had little time to prepare the bomb.
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The weight of bomb was two and a half times the Tu-95 Aircraft normal weapon loads and close to the plane’s total weight load. Therefore, the Tu-95 Aircraft was modified to drop bomb on the surface of the earth.
Detonation of the Bomb:
- Time: 11:32 AM
- Date: October 30,1961
- Location: D-2 Sector, Zone C, Sukhoy Nos Peninsula, Novaya Zemlya (Russia)
- Coordinates of Detonation: 73.85N, 54.50E
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The plane piloted by Andrei Durnovtsev dropped the Tsar Bomba at 11:32 AM (Moscow Time), from a height of 6.5 Miles (10.50 km) over Mityushikha Bay in Novaya Zemlya.
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The bomb detonated at a height of 2.5 Miles (4 km).
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The descent from the height it was dropped from until the place of the detonation at 4,000 meters above ground took 188 seconds, just enough time for the pilot, Andrei Durnovtsev to fly to a safe distance.
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Just one second after the detonation, the fireball was already 4 miles wide, and the light could be seen at distances of over 2,000 kilometers.
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The mushroom raised to a height of about 64 km, over 7 times the height of Mount Everest.
Aftermath of the Bomb Detonation:
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The surface of an island was leveled, and the rocks melted after the explosion from an aircraft.
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The windows of the building were broken in Northern Finland and Norway.
Interesting Facts about the Bomb Detonation:
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The Tsar Bomba was built in only 15 weeks.
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The bomb was dropped from a modified Tu-95 Aircraft.
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The shockwave of the explosion traveled the earth three times.
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The mushroom cloud that formed had a diameter of around 40 km.
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The parachute attached to the bomb weighted 800 kg.
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The modified Tu-95 was flown by Major Andrei Durnovtsev.
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The plane which dropped the bomb was able to fly around 45 km from ground zero during the 188 seconds until the bomb detonated.
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The mushroom cloud that formed was 64 km high and 168 times higher than the Empire State Building.
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The power produced during the fission-fusion process was 5.4 yottawatts.
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The US, UK and USSR signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty forcing all nuclear tests to be underground in the year of 1963.
