Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
HARDTACK-Teak was an exoatmospheric high altitude nuclear weapon test performed during Operation Hardtack It was launched from Johnston Atoll on a Redstone missile . On 1 August 1958, the 3.88 Mt (16.2 PJ) shot detonated at an altitude of 76.8 km (252,000 ft; 47.7 mi).
Along with HARDTACK-Orange it was one of the two largest high-altitude nuclear explosions.
The 3.8-megaton detonation was planned to occur at an altitude of 76,000 m (250,000 ft) above a point approximately 9.7 km (6 mi) south of Johnston Island. However, due to a programming failure, it burst directly above the island at the desired altitude, making the island the effective ground zero. This brought the explosion 610 m (2,000 ft) nearer the launch site control and analysis crews than intended.
Top: A facility on Johnston Island prior to the burst.
Bottom: The facility immediately after the burst at an altitude of 76.8 km (47.7 mi).
The Teak test was originally planned to be launched from Bikini Atoll, but Lewis Strauss, chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission opposed the test because of fears that the flash from the nighttime detonation might blind Islanders who were living on nearby atolls. He finally agreed to approve the high-altitude test on the condition that the launch point be moved from Bikini Atoll to the more remote site at Johnston Island.
In this video,
You can see quite a lot of precious original videos in a moment.
Contains a high-speed video
Remastered Video!!
HARDTACK-Teak was an exoatmospheric high altitude nuclear weapon test performed during Operation Hardtack It was launched from Johnston Atoll on a Redstone missile . On 1 August 1958, the 3.88 Mt (16.2 PJ) shot detonated at an altitude of 76.8 km (252,000 ft; 47.7 mi).
Along with HARDTACK-Orange it was one of the two largest high-altitude nuclear explosions.
The 3.8-megaton detonation was planned to occur at an altitude of 76,000 m (250,000 ft) above a point approximately 9.7 km (6 mi) south of Johnston Island. However, due to a programming failure, it burst directly above the island at the desired altitude, making the island the effective ground zero. This brought the explosion 610 m (2,000 ft) nearer the launch site control and analysis crews than intended.
Top: A facility on Johnston Island prior to the burst.
Bottom: The facility immediately after the burst at an altitude of 76.8 km (47.7 mi).
The Teak test was originally planned to be launched from Bikini Atoll, but Lewis Strauss, chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission opposed the test because of fears that the flash from the nighttime detonation might blind Islanders who were living on nearby atolls. He finally agreed to approve the high-altitude test on the condition that the launch point be moved from Bikini Atoll to the more remote site at Johnston Island.
In this video,
You can see quite a lot of precious original videos in a moment.
Contains a high-speed video
Remastered Video!!
