The bomb, weighing 27 metric tons, was so large ( long by in diameter) that the Tu-95V had to have its bomb bay doors and fuselage fuel tanks removed. The bomb was attached to an , parachute, which gave the release and observer planes time to fly about away from ground zero, giving them a 50 percent chance of survival. The bomb was released two hours after takeoff from a height of 10,500 m (34,500 ft) on a test target within Sukhoy Nos. The Tsar Bomba detonated at 11:32 (or 11:33) Moscow Time on 30 October 1961, over the Mityushikha Bay nuclear testing range (Sukhoy Nos Zone C), north of the Arctic Circle over the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, at a height of 4,200 m ASL (4000 m above the target) (some sources suggest 3,900 m ASL and 3,700 m above target, or 4,500 m). By this time the Tu-95V had already escaped to away, and the Tu-16 away. When detonation occurred, the shock wave caught up with the Tu-95V at a distance of and the Tu-16 at . The Tu-95V dropped in the air because of the shock wave but was able to recover and land safely. According to initial data, the Tsar Bomba had a nuclear yield of (significantly exceeding what the design itself would suggest) and was overestimated at values all the way up to .