The Argus Experiment
- Paper number
IAC-08.E4.3.3
- Author
Dr. Charles Lundquist, University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Nicholas C. Christofilos relates that after the first Sputnik, his attention was attracted to outer space problems. He recognized that if electrons could be released at a point in the geomagnetic field above the Earth, these electrons would spread around the Earth creating a layer of small thickness but of global dimensions. An atomic bomb exploded at high altitude could provide a source of electrons. Christofilos concluded that this phenomenon could have military implications and he proposed a test of the concept. In early 1958, instrumentation provided by James Van Allen for Explorers I and III proved that natural sources created trapped belts of electrons similar to the layers envisioned by Christofilos. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense had established an Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). It sponsored projects such as that proposed by Christofilos. After reviews, his project was embraced by ARPA as a Top Secret project and named Argus. Its execution was given final approval by President Eisenhower in early May 1858. In summer 1958, a Navy missile ship was deployed below the south Atlantic anomaly of the Earth’s magnetic field. It carried three rockets with atomic bombs, which were launched on August 27, August 30 and September 6. Another Navy ship, with instrumentation to observe resulting artificial aurora, was deployed at a position magnetically conjugate to the bomb detonations. The Army Ballistic Missile Agency with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched Explorer IV on July 26, carrying radiation detectors designed by the Van Allen team. The orbit of the satellite took it through an artificial radiation belt created by each bomb. The Air Force, from three sites, launched 13 sounding rockets carrying radiation detectors through the belts. The Argus success, as reported to President Eisenhower by his scientific advisor, James Killian, noted that this historic experiment was probably the most spectacular ever conducted. Concurrently, negotiations for a moratorium on atomic bomb testing were underway in Geneva. The Argus experiment was conducted well before a moratorium began late in 1958. However, analysis of the Argus data continued through February 1959, when a team of participants met in California for two weeks of final evaluation. A decision resulted from this and other considerations that the scientific results of the experiment should be declassified. They were presented in a National Academy of Sciences symposium on April 29, 1959.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.E4.3.3.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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