Great Secret Of The Cold War

In September 1962, British Prime Minister Harold McMillan received a confidential document in which were described the events that led to the failure of the first British satellite, Ariel with the tag-1. This aircraft, which was a joint venture with USA, launched in April of that year in order to investigate the effects of solar radiation on Earth. The satellite is functioning flawlessly until connection is suddenly interrupted on 13 July.

Documents about the fate of the British satellite remained locked for 50 years, and only recently discovered - NASA immediately realized what happened to it.

When the British finally managed to put together the pieces of the story, the then Minister of Science sent a confidential document to the Prime Minister MacMillan.

It turned out that the disconnection with Ariel came four days after the US detonated a nuclear warhead high in the atmosphere at a height of 400 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean.

The blast caused an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to disrupt radio communications around the world, and even to put out the street- lights in Hawaii. It also created a new, temporary radiation belt around the Earth. This is precisely what killed Ariel.

- We have had great benefit from it during his not so short-usage. Before the accident, the data were broadcasted over 1,000 hours and it will take us at least a year to analyze them - said the Minister of Science.

Ariel-1 was not the only satellite in which the affected nuclear explosion. The test is allegedly the main culprit for the failure of the first Telstar satellite television.

While the British were outraged by performing nuclear testing, military experts are watching this event from a different angle, wondering whether in the future the same way can be disabling enemy satellites.

A weapon that works on the principle of electromagnetic pulse capable of that scorches all electronic systems in a particular field, but also to destroy the target devices, which means that in this way could dismantle defense radars enemies for example.

However, the big problem with these types of weapons are hidden effects. In ordinary bombs, caused damage is immediately visible, while with the EMP weapons it is not the case. Therefore, it is seen by many as a major threat. However, experts warn that today's satellites are much more resistant to radiation than before.