THE ARGUS EXPERIMENT

摘要

After Sputnik I, N.C. Christofilos recognized that if electrons were released at a point in the magnetic field above the Earth, they would spread around the Earth creating a layer of small thickness. An atomic bomb exploded at high altitude could provide the electrons. A test of the concept was embraced as a Top Secret project and named Argus. 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, to observe artificial aurora, was deployed 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 James Van Allen team to detect trapped electrons. The Air Force launched 13 sounding rockets carrying radiation detectors. Concurrently, negotiations for a moratorium on atomic bomb testing were underway in Geneva. The Argus experiment was conducted before a moratorium began late in 1958. Subsequently, a decision was reached that the scientific results of the experiment could be presented in a symposium on April 29, 1959.