Operation Totem Operation Totem Operation Totem was a pair of British atmospheric nuclear tests which took place at Emu Field in South Australia on 15 October 1953. They followed the Operation Hurricane test of the first British atomic bomb, which had taken place at the Montebello Islands a year previously. The main purpose of the trial was to determine the acceptable limit on the amount of plutonium-240 which could be present in a bomb. In addition to the two main tests, there was a series of five subcritical tests. These did not produce nuclear explosions, but used conventional explosives, polonium-210, beryllium and
Redstone Test Stand in tests to study the effects of nuclear detonations in the upper atmosphere, Operation Hardtack I. After being static-fired at the Interim Stand in January 1958, two missiles were shipped to the Pacific Test Range. In July and August, the missiles became the first missiles ever to detonate atomic warheads. In 1958, Redstone development ended and Chrysler began mass production for deployment. Only a few of these missiles were tested at the Interim Test Stand because the propulsion system had become so reliable. As the space race continued, the civilian space agency, NASA started on October 1, 1958 but the