Operation Ranger was the fourth American

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

test series. It was conducted in 1951 and was the first series to be carried out at the

Nevada Test Site The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...

. All the bombs were dropped by B-50D bombers and exploded in the open air over

Frenchman Flat Frenchman Flat is a hydrographic basin in the Nevada National Security Site south of Yucca Flat and north of Mercury, Nevada. The flat was used as an American nuclear test site and has a dry lake bed (Frenchman Lake) that was used as a 1950s ...

( Area 5). These tests centered on the practicality of developing a second generation of nuclear weapons using smaller amounts of valuable nuclear materials. They were planned under the name ''Operation Faust.'' The exact locations of the tests are unknown, as they were all air drops. However, the planned ground zero was set at for all except the ''Fox'' shot, which was "500 feet west and 300 feet south" in order to minimize damage to the control point.

References

External links

* {{US Nuclear Tests Explosions in 1951

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

1951 in military history 1951 in Nevada 1951 in the environment January 1951 events in the United States February 1951 events in the United States