Whereas in 1958 the altitudes chosen for Teak and Orange were such that the
detonations could not be seen from the nearest inhabited islands, namely,
Hawaii.
The DOD
desired moderately large yield shots and altitudes therin from 100 kil-
ometers to 400 kilometers.
It was quickly recognized that these altitudes
would allow the detonations to be seen from Hawaii.
Two sets of studies were
thus initiated and continued throughout the operation.
The first study targely
conducted by Group J-I0 in Los Alamos attempted to predict the brightness, size & duration of the fireball as a function of the altitude of detonation and the yield of
the detonation.
The second study largely conducted by
to look that up), a Dr. Hamm as
|
(we'll have
remember, a DOD contractor, concerned
itself
with the characteristics of the human eye from the point of view of the likelihood of burning the retina from such a flash.
This study had to take into account
the probable size of the pupil at time of detonation, the likelihood of the person
having the detonation in his field of view, the size of the focused spot on the
retina, heat conduction characteristics of the retina etc.
Dr. Hamm had previously
conducted experiments on monkeys using laboratory sources and had some initial
information on the subject.
Both of these problems had some previous history of
effort as a result of the difficulty encountered with Teak and Orange during
Hardtack, and for that matter, as a result of earlier comparatively low altitude
detonations
in Nevada, where some of thedetonations could be seen from local
highways and other inhabited spots. (eS 0 Atamos Laboratory
had been studying the eye burn problem since the early detonations in Nevada
and was of great assistance in these considerations.
Also to be taken into account
in the problem was the air transmission characteristics between the point of bursts
retrac tied
in Hawaii and the effects of retraction because of the changing atmospheric
density with altitude.
Los Alamos.
That work was largely carried on again by Group J-10 of