Operation Castle, Romeo Shot Print

Castle Romeo was the code name given to one of the tests in the Operation Castle series of American nuclear tests. Detonated on March 27, 1954, it was the first deployed thermonuclear bomb. This particular image of the Castle Romeo fireball has been one of the most highly reprinted images of a nuclear explosion, often serving as a stand-in for nuclear weapons in general for news stories, book covers, magazine articles, and even congressional reports or as a backdrop for the heavy metal band Megadeth's greatest hits compilation. [...] –But if they have thermonuclear power, where do they conduct the tests and detonations? –On their own planet, sir. Naron rose to his full twenty feet of height and thundered –On their own planet? –Yes, sir. Slowly Naron drew out his stylus and passed a line through the latest addition in the small book. It was an unprecedented act, but, then, Naron was very wise and could see the inevitable as well as anyone in the galaxy. –Silly asses,– he muttered. Silly Asses Isaac Asimov First published in: Future Science Fiction, February 1958, p. 114 Collections: Have You Seen These? Buy Jupiter and Other Stories