“Unraveling the Mysteries: How Fire, Ice, and Plutonium Could Redefine Our Understanding of the Universe”
On October 4, 1957, history changed forever when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite. While the beachball-sized craft did little more than transmit a series of beeps, its mere presence filled American military planners with existential dread. For the same rocket that carried Sputnik into orbit, the R-7 Semyorka, could also place a nuclear warhead anywhere in the continental United States within 30 minutes, wiping out the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal without warning. And unlike manned nuclear-armed bombers, such Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles or ICBMs could not be intercepted or shot down, making them the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. Almost overnight, the balance of the Cold War shifted firmly in the Soviets’ favour.
In response to this new threat, in 1958 General Thomas Power, commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command or SAC, initiated a system of airborne alert in which a fleet of nuclear-armed Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers would be kept in the air at all times. This way, even if the rest of the U.S. nuclear arsenal was wiped out by a Soviet surprise attack, SAC could maintain second-strike capability. The largest of these operations, codenamed Chrome Dome, was launched in 1960. For nearly eight years, up to twelve B-52s taking off from eight SAC bases within the United States flew continuously along one of three long-range routes: one northwest around Alaska and Japan, one northwest over Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, and one east over the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. This brought the aircraft as close as possible to Soviet territory, allowing them to dash across the border and attack their designated targets the moment the order was given. These gruelling missions could last up to 24 hours – a feat made possible through the use of air-to-air refuelling by KC-135 tanker aircraft.
