• Question: What would happen if you exploded a nuclear bomb in space?

    Asked by anon-258003 on 26 Jun 2020.
    • Photo: Martin Coath

      Martin Coath answered on 26 Jun 2020:

      By ‘in space’ do you mean the vastness of intergalactic space? If that is what you mean then nobody would see or notice it. The device would work more or less the same as it would on a planet but there would be no mushroom cloud 🙂

    • Photo: Luke Bryden

      Luke Bryden answered on 26 Jun 2020:

      The USA and Soviet Union (now Russia) actually detonated nuclear bombs in space in the late1950s/early 1960s! It was 400 km above the surface of the earth (I think this sounds way too close for comfort, all things considered) and caused some navigation systems to malfunction. If they detonated an even bigger one it would probably ruin all satellite systems—this would probably bring the world to a halt as we are so dependent on these systems nowadays. The nuclear radiation released by these bombs is in all likelihood still in orbit around the earth, which could pose a danger to astronauts if they were to be in the vicinity of it in future space expeditions.

      If they flew a nuclear bomb so far away that the nuclear energy released by the bomb couldn’t affect the earth or its surrounding satellites, then not much would happen. It would just be a flash of light then disappear immediately, I think.

    • Photo: Aisling Ryan

      Aisling Ryan answered on 26 Jun 2020:

      I guess it depends on how close the nuclear bomb is to other things! When it explodes the explosion will cover a certain area. Because space is so vast it could be possible that this area around the bomb is empty and so it wouldn’t cause any physical damage. If the explosion covers a larger area it is more likely to cause more damage! Think of a simple explosion such as adding a mento sweet to a bottle of coca cola (here is an example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwyMcV9emmc). If the bottle of coca cola is the middle of nowhere (like in space) it won’t cause any damage when it explodes, even if the explosion is big, because there is nothing there to be damaged. But if the bottle of coca cola is somewhere crowded, like in a garden, it can cause more damage! 🙂 (Of course it is still possible to cause damage in space, just less likely.) Hope this makes sense! 🙂

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