The "E Projects" of the old Soviet Union.
http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/E3/E3orig.htm[quote]The first project received the designation E-1 and had the purpose of hitting the moon, the second [and third projects] were called E-2 [and E-3] and entailed a lunar "fly-around" to take pictures of the far side, and the third [fourth] ? E-3 [E-4] ? was intended to reach the Moon and blow up a nuclear charge on its surface. There were also other ideas, but in this article I wish to concentrate on the E-3 [E-4] project as being the most exotic and, happily, cancelled project. The following account will tell you why I choose the word "happily"!
Like all the other projects the lunar surface nuclear explosion proposal came from the circle of Academicians. Its originator was the famous Soviet nuclear physicist Jakov Borisovich Seldovich. The primary aim of the project was to prove to the whole world that a Soviet spacecraft had really reached the surface of the Moon. Seldovich had the following in mid: The spacecraft would in itself be quite small and its flight to the moon would not be possible to observe for any astronomer on earth. Even if filled with conventional explosives, its drop on to the lunar surface would not be possible to observe from Earth. But, if a nuclear device was exploded on the Moon's surface, the whole world would be able to observe the event and nobody would be able to pose the question: has a Soviet spacecraft really reached the Moon? It was assumed that a nuclear explosion on the Moon would be accompanied by such a light flash that it would easily be observable by all observatories on Earth.[/quote]
Crazy scientists! :) Thankfully, much happier discussing "Did Americans really land on moon?" than if we had detonated a nuke to prove that we were there.
I used "we", as the US also had similar plans (Project A119). Interesting to note that a young Carl Sagan was involved in this project. What was he thinking?
