The Largest Explosion Ever Detonated...Kuzma's Mother
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October 30th, 1961; No, it wasn't Marvin's Illudium Q -36 Explosive Space Modulator, but the RDS-220 hydrogen bomb (code name "Ivan" or "Vanya"). The most powerful nuclear weapon mankind ever detonated. It's test on October 30th, one that is referred to as Tzar Bomba or Кузькина мать; "Kuzma's mother".
Kuzma's mother ( Кузькина мать Kuzkina mat; Kuzka is a part of the Russian idiomatic expression "to show Kuzka's mother to someone" is an unspecified threat or implied ass-kicking.
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Developed by the Soviet Union, "Kuzma's mother" had a yield of 50 megatons of TNT. In theory, the bomb had a maximum yield of 100 megatons if it had included a U-238 tamper. The detonation occurred at the Sukhoy Nos cape of Severny Island. "Kuzma's Mother" was attached to an 800-kilogram parachute, which allowed the release and observer aircraft time to make their escape from the kill zone (28 mi) away from ground zero.
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Even so, when detonation occurred, the Tu-95V aircraft was thrown 3000 feet off altitude when struck by the resultant shock wave.
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The fireball reached 4 miles in diameter within 1 second of detonation and was visible 620 miles away. The initial energy burst of 5.4 yottawatts was equivalent to 1.4% of the total power output of our sun. The mushroom cloud reached an altitude of 40 miles (over seven times the height of Mount Everest), which meant that the cloud was well above the stratosphere and far inside the mesosphere when it peaked. The cap of the mushroom cloud spread to 59 miles in diameter with its base at 25 miles wide.
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Wooden houses hundreds of miles from ground zero were destroyed, stone ones lost their roofs, windows and doors, and all radio communications were interrupted for up to one hour.
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A shock wave was observed in the air at a settlement 700 kilometres away; blowing windowpanes up to distances of 900 kilometres. Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage at even greater distances, breaking windows in Norway and Finland. Despite being detonated 4.2 km above the surface, the Tzar Bombas' shockwave magnitude was estimated at 5–5.25, and travelled around the world three times over.
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