Operation Doorstep, Civil Defense Study, 1953

Mannequin woman and three mannequin children in living room. Operation Doorstep was a civil defense study conducted by the Federal Civil Defense Administration in conjunction with Upshot-Knothole Annie. It studied the effect of the nuclear blast on two wooden frame houses, fifty automobiles and eight bomb shelters designed for residential use. The homes in the study were constructed in such a way as to minimize the thermal effects of Annie, with an eye towards determining if, in the absence of fire, the basement of the closer home (3,500 feet from the hypocenter) might shelter its occupants, while the second (at 7,500 feet) could remain standing. Both homes performed as expected under the conditions of their construction. Upshot-Knothole Annie was a nuclear weapons test conducted by the United States as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole. It took place at the Nevada Test Site on March 17, 1953, and was nationally televised. The live TV coverage was captured at the studio, presumably using at-the-time new magnetic tape sound technology, so it is a rare record of the sound an actual atomic bomb makes.

1953 • ACONTECIMIENTO • AMERICA • AMERICANO • ARMA NUCLEAR • ARMA • ARMAS • BLANCO Y NEGRO • BOMBA ATOMICA • BOMBA NUCLEAR • CIENCIA • CONFLICTO BELICO • CURIOSO • DETONACION • ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA • ESTADOS UNIDOS • EXTRAÑO • FAMOSA • FAMOSO • FOTO • FOTOGRAFIA • GUERRA • HISTORIA • HISTORICO • IMPORTANTE • INUSUAL • INVESTIGACIÓN Y DESARROLLO • INVESTIGACION • MUJER • NINO • NINOS • NIÑO • PECULIAR • S. XX • SIGLO XX • SÍTIO • TECNOLOGÍA • TECNOLÓGICA • WAR • WEAPON