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Tsar Bomba (Царь-бомба, Russian for " Tsar-Bomb") was the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated. Tsar Bomba casing on display at Arzamas-16.
The name was coined in an analogy with Tsar Kolokol and Tsar Cannon, both of which were also extremely large representatives of their respective types of objects. During its development the bomb was actually nicknamed Ivan.
It was a fusion bomb with a yield of ~50 megatons (the original US estimate was 57 megatons, though since 1991 all Russian sources have cited it as "only" 50 megatons [1]), though the design was capable of approximately 100 megatons (it was purposely reduced at the last minute). It was not intended for actual use in warfare, however; it was developed and tested as part of the sabre-rattling between the Soviet Union and United States in the course of the Cold War. The 50-Mt test was hot enough to have induced third degree burns at 100 km, and atmospheric irregularities caused blast damage up to 1000 km away (due to atmospheric focusing , where localized regions of destructive blast damage can be created many hundreds of kilometers away); the "dirty" 100-Mt version would have laid lethal radioactivity over an enormous area.
A bomb of this magnitude has tremendous "blow back" potential to its user, while at the same time being inefficient in radiating much of its energy out into space. Modern nuclear-weapon tactics call for multiple relatively smaller bombs to produce more damage on the ground (for example, MIRVs). It was not practical for use as a weapon in wartime, requiring a specially modified bomber for the test that could not be used to deliver the massive bomb to a distant target.
Tsar Bomba was designed and constructed in only 14 weeks after Soviet premier Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev1962 Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev ( Russian: ) (nih-KEE-tah khroo-SHCHYOFF) ( April 17, 1894 September 11, 1971) was a Soviet politician. Following a power struggle, he emerged as the leader of Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin: he was First initiated the project on July 10, 1961. The bomb itself weighed 27 tonnes and was 8 metres long by 2 metres wide; a special parachuteApollo 15 capsule landed safely despite a parachute failure. A parachute is a device used to slow the descent of a falling body or load. The word parachute comes from the French words para, protect or shield, and chute, to fall. Therefore parachute actual had to be designed to allow it to be dropped from an airplane. The fabrication of this parachute required so much material that the Soviet hosieryHosiery describes undergarments worn directly on the feet and legs. Types of hosiery Socks Stockings Pantyhose See also Leggings External links Underwear. industry was noticeably disrupted. Tsar Bomba was detonated on October 30October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 62 days remaining. Events 1470 Henry VI of England returns to the throne after Earl of Warwick defeats Yorkists in battle. 1831 In Southampton County, Virginia,, 19611961 (As MAD Magazine pointed out on its first cover for the year) was the first "upside-down" year i. one that looked the same upside down since 1881, and the last until 6009. Events January January 1 The farthing coin, used since the 13th century, cease, at a height of 4000 metres over Novaya ZemlyaThe archipelago of Novaya Zemlya ( Russian: "New Land"; formerly known as Nova Zembla consists of two major islands in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia, separated by the narrow Matochkin Strait, and a number of smaller ones. The two main islands ar Island in the Arctic Sea; it was dropped from a Tu-95The Tupolev Tu-95 ( NATO reporting name Bear is the most successful Tupolev strategic bomber and missile carrier from the times of the Soviet Union. The Bear was powered by four turboprop engines, each driving contra-rotating propellers, and remains one o bomber at 10,500 metres altitude by pilot A. E. Durnovtsev. The fireball touched the ground and reached nearly as high as the release plane and light from the detonation was visible 1000 km away; the mushroom cloud rose as high as 64 km.
The Tsar Bomba had its yield scaled down by replacing the uranium fusion tamper (which amplifies the reaction greatly) with one made of lead to eliminate fast fission by the fusion neutrons. If detonated at full yield (~100 Mt), the force of this bomb would have been approximately 6,500 times the 15-16 kiloton bomb detonated at Hiroshima and would have increased the world's total fission fallout since the invention of the atomic bomb by 25%.
