Editing Operation Argus (section)

==Tests==
[[File:Argus2.jpg|thumb|X-17A warhead.]]

About 1800&nbsp;km southwest of [[Cape Town]], South Africa, [[USS Norton Sound (AVM-1)|USS ''Norton Sound'']] launched three modified [[Lockheed X-17|X-17A missiles]] armed with 1.7 [[kiloton|kt]] [[W25 nuclear warhead|W-25]] [[nuclear weapon|nuclear warheads]] into the upper [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]], where [[high altitude nuclear explosion]]s occurred. Due to the [[South Atlantic Anomaly]], the [[Van Allen radiation belt]] is closer to the Earth's surface at that location. The (extreme) altitude of the tests was chosen so as to prevent personnel involved with the test from being exposed to any [[ionizing radiation]].<ref>U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. ''DTRA Fact Sheets'', [http://www.dtra.mil/documents/ntpr/factsheets/Argus.pdf "Operation Argus"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007081428/http://www.dtra.mil/documents/ntpr/factsheets/Argus.pdf |date=7 October 2012 }}. November 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2010.</ref> Even with the very minor threat of radiation exposure, precautions were taken to prevent radiological exposure. The task force commander and his staff had devised a series of precautionary radiation safe measures to be followed in each stage of the operation. Though the chance of exposure to radiation from these missiles was minute, the safety measures were performed as directed by the commander by the crew of Task Force 88.<ref name=":1" />

Coordinated measurement programs involving satellite, rocket, aircraft, and surface stations were employed by the [[US Military|services]] as well as other government agencies and various contractors worldwide.

The Argus explosions created artificial [[electron]] belts resulting from the [[beta decay|β-decay]] of [[Nuclear fission|fission]] fragments. These lasted for several weeks. Such radiation belts affect radio and [[radar]] transmissions, damage or destroy arming and [[Fuse (explosives)|fusing]] mechanisms of [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] [[warhead]]s, and endanger crews of [[orbit]]ing [[space vehicle]]s. It was found after performing these tests that the explosions did in fact degrade the reception and transmission of radar signals, another proof that Christofilos was correct about the Christofilos effect.<ref name=":1" />

''Argus'' proved the validity of Christofilos' theory: the establishment of an electron shell derived from neutron and β-decay of fission products and ionization of device materials in the upper atmosphere was demonstrated. It not only provided data on military considerations, but produced a "great mass" of geophysical data.

[[File:Argus3.jpg|thumb|X-17A awaiting launch aboard USS-''Norton Sound''.]]
The tests were first reported journalistically by [[Hanson W. Baldwin|Hanson Baldwin]] and [[Walter Sullivan (journalist)|Walter Sullivan]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' on 19 March 1959,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Baldwin |first=Hanson W. |author-link=Hanson W. Baldwin |date=19 March 1959 |title=3 Atomic Devices Detonated 300 Miles Up |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Sullivan (journalist) |date=19 March 1959 |title=Radiation and Geomagnetic Phenomena Probed and Revealed by Test Outlined |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1}}</ref> headlining it as the "greatest scientific experiment ever conducted". This was an unauthorized publication that caused great controversy among scientists because many of them were unaware of the presence of artificial particles in the Earth's atmosphere.<ref name=":0" /> Approximately nine ships and 4,500 people participated with the operation. After the completion of testing, the task force returned to the United States via [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil.

The tests were announced officially the next year, but the full results and documentation of the tests were not declassified until 30 April 1982.