08-03-2024, 01:19 PM
And these where longer term radiation effects.
The EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) is instantaneous, like the electrical signal from a lightning flash (which is actually many discharges so fast they look like one flash).
Telstar did work but failed early due to the excess radiation.
Quote: The weaponeers became quite worried when three satellites in low Earth orbit were disabled. These included TRAAC and Transit 4B.[13] The half-life of the energetic electrons was only a few days. At the time it was not known that solar and cosmic particle fluxes varied by a factor of 10, and energies could exceed 1 MeV (0.16 pJ). In the months that followed, these man-made radiation belts eventually caused six or more satellites to fail,[14] as radiation damaged their solar arrays or electronics, including the first commercial relay communication satellite, Telstar, as well as the United Kingdom's first satellite, Ariel 1.[15] Detectors on Telstar, TRAAC, Injun, and Ariel 1 were used to measure distribution of the radiation produced by the tests.[16]
In 1963, it was reported that Starfish Prime had created a belt of MeV electrons.[17] In 1968, it was reported that some Starfish electrons had remained in the atmosphere for 5 years
The EMP (Electromagnetic pulse) is instantaneous, like the electrical signal from a lightning flash (which is actually many discharges so fast they look like one flash).
Telstar did work but failed early due to the excess radiation.
