Tsar Bomba

The Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. It was a hydrogen bomb (thermonuclear bomb) tested by the Soviet Union on October 30, 1961.

The Name: "Tsar Bomba" translates to "Emperor of Bombs." This is a reference to other massive Russian historical artifacts like the "Tsar Cannon" and "Tsar Bell." The Soviets officially called it "Big Ivan" or "Kuzma's Mother" (a phrase meaning "We'll show you!").

The Yield: Its explosion had a force of 50 megatons of TNT. This is about 3,300 times more powerful than the "Little Boy" atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The Design: It was designed to have a maximum yield of 100 megatons, but Soviet scientists feared the nuclear fallout and the bomber crew's chance of survival. So, they replaced a uranium fusion stage with a lead one, reducing the yield by half and making it a relatively "clean" bomb (about 97% of the energy came from fusion, not fission).

The Delivery: It was so massive (26 feet long and 27 tons) that it couldn't fit inside even the largest bomber. A specially modified Tu-95V plane had to carry it slung underneath the belly.

The Detonation: It was air-dropped over the remote Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya and detonated at an altitude of 13,000 feet.

The Effects: The fireball touched the ground and reached nearly as high as the altitude of the bomber that dropped it. The mushroom cloud rose to a height of over 40 miles (7 times higher than Everest). The shockwave circled the Earth three times. People in Finland and Alaska reported cracked windows and felt the blast.

In short, the Tsar Bomba was a demonstration of military might at the height of the Cold War, a weapon so powerful it was practically unusable in any realistic military scenario.