In 1962 the USA launched a military project code-named Starfish Prime. They detonated a thermonuclear warhead 400 kilometres above the Pacific Ocean – just to see what would happen. The device was 100 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. Within seconds an electromagnetic pulse knocked out electricity in Hawaii, and from Hawaii to New Zealand the night sky lit up in a carnival of colour, a man-made aurora. An artificial radiation belt formed around Earth, lasting a decade before dissipating. At least seven satellites were damaged or destroyed, including the Telstar
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