Rocket mystery: What weapon was Russia testing in Arctic?

BBC ^ | 12 Aug 2019

[DUMBGRUNT]

The Russian state nuclear agency, Rosatom, said the experts had been testing a nuclear-powered engine. But it gave no further technical details.

"These new systems have their origin in Soviet times - they've been taken off the shelves and given new investment."

The five nuclear engineers who died were "elite" experts and "heroes" who knew of the risks and had conducted previous tests in "extraordinarily tough conditions", senior Rosatom official Valentin Kostyukov said.

Soon after the blast the Severodvinsk administration reported a 40-minute spike in radiation in the city, and news of that prompted locals to buy up stocks of iodine in the city's pharmacies.

There is speculation that the ship was deployed to pick up any radioactive debris in the event of a failed test, and may be doing just that now.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (the predecessor of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL) to study the feasibility of applying heat from nuclear reactors to ramjet engines. This research became known as Project Pluto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto

[DUMBGRUNT]

On May 14, 1961, the world’s first nuclear ramjet engine, “Tory-IIA”, mounted on a railroad car, roared to life for a few seconds. Three years later, “Tory-IIC” was run for five minutes at full power. Despite these and other successful tests, the Pentagon, sponsor of the “Pluto project”, had second thoughts. The weapon was considered “too provocative”,[2] and it was believed that it would compel the Soviets to construct a similar device, against which there was no known defense. Intercontinental ballistic missile technology had proven to be more easily developed than previously thought, reducing the need for such highly capable cruise missiles. On July 1, 1964, seven years and six months after it was started, “Project Pluto” was canceled.

[fruser1]

An anti-glacier missile.

[Revel]

In a few years there will be a lot of “unexplained” deaths in those cities due to cancer.

[SuperLuminal]

Somebody should be keeping an eye out for orange polar bears... Will be a lot easier spotting them as they float away on an ice cube...

[CivilWarBrewing]

I think the U.S.’s “Rods of God” put a stop to Russia’s futuristic weapons testing..

[chief lee runamok]

Selfie, took moments before the devastating explosion.

[BenLurkin]

That doesnt show the guy behind her with the paper bag ready to pop.it

[McGruff]

news of that prompted locals to buy up stocks of iodine in the city's pharmacies.

Gee why would a pharmacy have stockpiles of iodine pills?

[Spktyr]

The Rods From God we never built?

[DUMBGRUNT]

“Rods of God” put a stop to Russia’s futuristic weapons testing..

“For example, one such weapon might be a 1-[meter]-long tungsten rod weighing about 100 [kilograms].”

That size is important because, as the RAND study blithely puts it, the object needs to be large enough to survive the burn-up that comes with racing through the Earth’s atmosphere, but “preferably” small enough that it doesn’t cause “mass extinction,” like the end of the dinosaurs.

https://www.insidehook.com/article/military/rods-god-space-weapon-make-thor-jealous

[McGruff]

If you have Amazon Prime you can get free next day shipping for all your nuclear testing needs.

[Spktyr]

It’s actually used as a treatment for several non-radioactivity related diseases. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-35/iodine

[Spktyr]

Yeah, that never got built. Funding for the last attempt got cut by Congress and the Obama admin.

[HighSierra5]

I wonder if they used uranium from Hitlery’s Uranium One scandal that will never be pinned on her.

[AzNASCARfan]

Pretty sure this is what caused the “Earthquake” on North Korea’s nuclear test mountain, which is also what convinced them it was time to make a deal.
Of course we will never know for sure if it was.

[AzNASCARfan]

yeah congress nixed it and those in control of the deep state did it anyway...
I think much of the ‘space force’ infrastructure is already in place from the ‘dark projects’.

[butlerweave]

A nuclear powered missile that would circle the planet for months/years just waiting for something to attack

[Waverunner]

Of course coating the rod with ceramic material reduces the reentry mass loss.
As the developers of the original mercury/gemini/apollo era shielding said, it's easy to design a reentry shield that is only going to be used once.
Say what does that original concept look like.. hmmmm...

[Spktyr]

Ummm, no. There’s nothing large enough in orbit short of the openly known space stations to hold RFG projectiles. People have been looking for them but none have shown up.

*EVERYTHING* in Earth orbit is spotted, tracked and observed on optics and radar by government and private institutions. The *purpose* or function of a particular orbiting device may not be known, but its size and presence is and there’s no unknown sats flying around up there big enough to hold RFG projectiles.