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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 111, A12211, doi:10.

1029/2006JA011827, 2006

Particle and field measurements of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity


Palmer Dyal1
Received 2 May 2006; revised 10 July 2006; accepted 25 September 2006; published 16 December 2006.

[1] Recently analyzed beta particle and magnetic field measurements obtained from

five instrumented rocket payloads located around the 1962 Starfish nuclear burst are used
to describe the diamagnetic cavity produced in the geomagnetic field. Three of the
payloads were located in the cavity during its expansion and collapse, one payload was
below, and the fifth was above the fully expanded cavity. This multipoint data set
shows that the cavity expanded into an elongated shape 1840 km along the magnetic field
lines and 680 km vertically across in 1.2 s and required an unexpectedly long time of
about 16 s to collapse. The beta flux contained inside the cavity was measured to be
relatively uniform throughout and remained at 3  1011 beta/cm2 s for at least 7 s. The
plasma continued to expand upward beyond the fully expanded cavity boundary and
injected a flux measuring 2.5  1010 beta/cm2 s at H + 34 s into the most intense region of
the artificial belt. Measured 10 hours later by the Injun I spacecraft, this flux was
determined to be 1  109 beta/cm2 s.
Citation: Dyal, P. (2006), Particle and field measurements of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A12211,
doi:10.1029/2006JA011827.

1. Introduction
[2] A diamagnetic cavity was formed by the Starfish
1.4 MT nuclear explosion on 9 July 1962, 09 hours 00 min
09.029 s UT in the ion-loaded geomagnetic field 400.1 km
above Johnston Island. This paper presents new, heretofore
unpublished particle and field measurements obtained
during the first critical minutes after production of plasma
with known energy and mass (1.5  1022 ergs and
1500 kg) in the magnetosphere. These measurements
fill a gap in the understanding of the formation and
evolution of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity and beta
particle injection into the inner radiation belt noted earlier
by several authors [Van Allen, 1966; Hess, 1968; Walt,
1980]. Initial quick-look results were published in a
symposium on trapped radiation at the Goddard Space
Flight Center [Dyal, 1963]. Availability of new optical
scanning and digital data reduction techniques has
resulted in this more complete analysis of the first in
situ 1 MeV beta flux and magnetic field measurements
of plasma expanding into the geomagnetic field. The 0.1 ms
time response and the 30-s recorded time and 16-min real
time measurements in this experiment allowed three
processes to be studied: (1) in the first second, plasma
expansion produced a diamagnetic cavity in the geomagnetic field; (2) collapse of the cavity in approximately 16 s;
and (3) injection of beta particles into the Van Allen
radiation belts, which occurred during the first few
minutes. The earliest particles and fields measurements
previously published on the Starfish event [Van Allen,
1

Los Altos Hills, California, USA.

Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.


0148-0227/06/2006JA011827

1966] were obtained 42 min after the detonation using


Geiger tube detectors on the Injun I spacecraft. Analysis
of Van Allens measurements produced the first constant
flux contours of the intense Starfish radiation belt. This
late time phenomenon associated with the trapped electrons has been studied by many investigators who published a collected set of papers in a volume of the
Journal of Geophysical Research dedicated to this event
[Brown et al., 1963]. Subsequently, many papers have
been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research
and other journals on the geophysical effects of the
Starfish cavity. Similar studies to better understand diamagnetic cavities produced in the Earths magnetosphere
have been conducted by the AMPTE missions [Bernhardt
et al., 1987] and the CRRES missions [Huba et al., 1992], in
the Jovian magnetosphere by the Shoemaker-Levy comet
impact [de Pater et al., 1997], in the solar atmosphere during
coronal mass ejections [Wagner, 1984], and in the laboratory [Gekelman et al., 2003]. These cavities share many
magnetohydrodynamic features in common but vary considerably in size and energy. Energies vary as follows:
laboratory 108 ergs, CRRES/AMPTE 1013 ergs, Starfish
1022 ergs, Jupiter/comet impact 1027 ergs, and solar
CME 1032 ergs.
[3] The sections in this paper follow the sequence of
particle and field events measured by the five rocket payloads surrounding the burst, as shown in Figure 1. The
diamagnetic cavity expanded past payloads P-6, P-7, and P-4
but stopped before reaching P-2 above and P-3 below the
burst point. As the cavity decelerated and stopped, plasma
instabilities developed that allowed beta particles and possibly the radioactive debris to propagate upward across the field
lines into the inner radiation belt.
[4] This paper focuses on the analysis of plasma measurements obtained in a high dose rate radiation environment.

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Figure 1. Payload trajectories were located in the plane of the magnetic meridian through Johnston
Island. At the Starfish burst time the payloads were positioned near the beginning of the short thick 5 mm
enhanced portion of the trajectory which depicts the 30 s time period that high-frequency data were
recorded for 3 s before, through 27 s after detonation. The expanding plasma boundary is shown at three
time steps as it was measured by P-6 beta detectors at H + 0.66 s, then P-7 at H + 0.63 s, and P-4 field at
H + 0.993 s. P-2 and P-3 were outside the bubble boundary during the rapid expansion and collapse
phase. The contour at H + 1.20 s was determined from P-2 and P-4 magnetic field measurements and P-3
and P-7 beta particle measurements as the spacecraft traveled through remnants of the stopped debris.
Therefore a brief description of the experiment design and
payload properties is given in Appendix A and B.

2. Fission Prompt Gamma and Fusion Neutron


Measurements
[5] The arrival of the fission prompt gamma radiation
(average energy 8 MeV, traveling at the speed of light) was
the first event detected by the gamma-neutron and beta
detectors at all five payload locations. These measurements
provided a time mark of the detonation event for all the
scientific instrument data. The later arrival time of the
14.5 MeV neutrons traveling at 52,070 km/s from the fusion
reactions was used to calculate the distance to the burst point
for each payload since the time between emission of the
gammas and neutrons at the burst location was much shorter
than the travel time of the neutrons to the payload.
Measurements from the gamma-neutron detectors for payloads P-3, P-4, P-6, and P-7 are shown in Figure 2. The
time difference averages of the gamma-neutron and the
beta detector measurements for each of the payloads were
as follows: P-3 = 3.32 ms, P-4 = 16.20 ms, P-6 = 1.85 ms,
and P-7 = 6.20 ms. Distances were then calculated using
equation (1)

d


Vn Vc
Dt
Vc  Vn

where d is the distance from the payload to the burst point,


Vn is the neutron velocity, Vc is the velocity of light, and
delta t is the time difference between the neutron and
gamma peaks. The distances measured by this method are
listed in the sixth row of Table 1 and the values are within
1% of those calculated from the trajectory data. The
neutron time-of-flight measurements were considered to be
more accurate and were used for plasma velocity
calculations. The P-2 distance to the burst point was
obtained only from trajectory data calculations, since the
tape recorded gamma-neutron data was not transmitted to
the ground receivers due to a preflight discriminator
adjustment error.

3. Plasma Diamagnetic Cavity Expansion


[6] The second event detected by the five payloads was
the expansion of the ionized fission fragments, debris, and
beta particles into the ion loaded geomagnetic field. Six beta
detectors, three ion detectors, and a magnetometer on each
payload were used to measure the properties of this expansion as it produced a diamagnetic cavity. During the
expansion, most of the momentum is carried by the debris
ions and the coupling through the magnetic field to the
electrons transfer this momentum to the air ions. This type
of coupling between the moving and stationary ions was
proposed by Longmire [1963, 1969] as Larmor radius

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Figure 2. Prompt fission gammas and 14.5 MeV fusion


neutrons as measured by P-3 and P-6 in the bottom graph
and P-7 and P-4 in the top graph. The first peak produced by
the gamma radiation provides a time mark for all the particle
and field measurements and the second peak produced by
the neutrons permits the distance to the burst to be
calculated from the time-of-flight technique.
coupling and would be applicable at early times in the
expansion. The Larmor radius is
r

mVc
cm
eB

where m is the mass, V is the electron or ion velocity, c is the


speed of light, e is the charge on the ion, and B is the
magnetic field. For fission fragments of mass 100 moving at
1670 km/s in a 0.22 gauss field, the radius is 80 km, for
ionosphere mass 16 O+ is 13 km, for 1 MeV betas is
0.07 km, and for ionosphere electrons is 43 cm. Longmire
showed that the air ions begin to be picked up in 1/2p
Larmor periods of the air ions in the compressed field of the
expanding cavity boundary. At early times across the
magnetic field lines the energetic beta particles should be

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coupled within a few beta Larmor radii to the debris ions.


During cavity expansion therefore the beta particle
measurements from the P-6 and P-7 instruments that are
across the field lines should track most of the debris ions
within approximately two O+ Larmor radii.
[7] In addition the following rationale indicates that the
high flux of beta particles may have been coupled within
tens of kilometers to the debris ions: (1) Photographic
measurements of the expanding debris velocity are similar
to those calculated from peak beta flux arrival times [Zinn et
al., 1966]. (2) Rule of thumb estimates place 25% of the
nuclear explosion energy into the kinetic energy of the
debris, which results in an average velocity of 1.5 
108 cm/s. This is reasonably close to the 1.67  108 cm/s
from the arrival of the peak beta flux as measured at the P-6
position. (3) Rocket payload P-4 located 1021 km from the
burst in the magnetic meridian toward the southern conjugate region measured a sharp decrease in the magnetic field
at the cavity boundary, which was nearly coincidence with
the peak of the first large pulse of beta flux. (4) The initial
high flux of betas do not show a trapped angular distribution
and are either omnidirectional as measured at P-6 and P-7
locations or are unidirectional as measured at P-4. This
would indicate that the betas are either in the cavity
boundary or inside the cavity. (5) The P-6 measurements
of the betas contained within the cavity are within 15% of
that calculated by J. B. Cladis (personal communication,
2000), who developed equations to compute the flux of
fission decay betas on missiles after a nuclear burst at
altitudes greater than 140 km. He assumed that all the betas
were trapped within a spherical cavity and that the rate of
production from radioactive decay was (1 + t)1.2. Both
the debris driving the cavity expansion and the betas would
be at higher densities at the reflecting boundary. (6) Finally,
the high flux of betas did not arrive from the burst point to
any of the payload locations with an average velocity of
a 1 MeV beta guided by the geomagnetic field over that
distance.
[8] The beta particles and debris ions expanding along the
magnetic field lines to the P-4 instruments may be separated
by much larger distances. Betas originating in the shell
surrounding the cavity can escape immediately along the
field lines and will not be retarded by the charge separation
electric field, since air ion and electron density are much
greater than the beta particle density. However, none of
these beta particles was detected. The early beta streamer
that traveled to the southern conjugate region, comparable
to the one detected at H + 0.030 s in the northern conjugate
region described by Longmire [1969], may have traveled

Table 1. Payload Parameters for Starfish Located at (16.468N, 169.630W, 400.1 km) and Burst Time (H-0 = 9 July 1962, 09 hours
00 min 09.029 s UT)
Parameter

P-2

P-3

P-4

P-6

P-7

Latitude, deg
Longitude, deg
Altitude, km
Trajectory measurements to burst point, km
Gamma-neutron time of flight, km
IGRF 1962 magnetic field, gauss
Measured magnetic field, gauss

20.096
191.187
1057.2
802
no data
0.22515
0.23000

15.645
190.319
216.6
207
209
0.30960
0.31306

9.458
188.986
932.6
1025
1021
0.22234
0.22279

15.594
190.271
348.18
116
117
0.29205
0.29302

18.387
190.968
696.98
383
391
0.25661
no data

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Figure 3. The P-6 beta flux and magnetic field at 117 km from the burst point. The maximum flux
occurred at H + 0.066 s which indicated a velocity of 1773 km/s. The bubble reached maximum size at H +
1.2 s and the flux remained relatively constant as the bubble started to collapse. The magnetic field abruptly
increased at H + 10.5 s due to the lower boundary collapsing upward and at H + 12.8 s due to the upper
boundary collapsing downward. At H + 16.4 s the collapse was complete and betas changed from an
omnidirectional to a trapped distribution.
undetected under P-4 if the streamer radius was less than
170 km.
[9] The plasma cavity expanded outward to payload P-6
which was located 117 km from the burst point and at an
angle of 57 degrees to the field line through the burst.
Measurements from one of the three beta detectors orthogonal to the payload spin axis are shown in Figure 3. The
first detection of beta particles from the debris occurred at
H + 0.010 s and the maximum beta flux arrived in 0.066 s,
which indicated a velocity of 1773 km/s for the peak flux of
beta particles. The Larmor radius of curvature would be
64 km if the average fission fragment ion had mass 100
and traveled with this velocity in the 0.287 gauss field.

Longmire [1963] described this mixture of ionosphere,


debris ions, and magnetic field as a shell of material that
is pushed ahead of the bulk of debris forming the
diamagnetic cavity. The betas born inside the closed
magnetic field cavity are contained and a portion of those
born in the shell will escape along open field lines. This
shell most likely produced the step in the rise time of the
beta flux measurement as seen in Figure 3 and was detected
from H + 0.01 s to H + 0.05 s. The shell traveled at 1773 km/s
and was therefore 70 km thick. This was relatively close to
the Larmor radius of the fission fragment ions.
[10] During the initial expansion phase the outer case
material emitted 1 keV X rays which increased the

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ambient ionosphere [O+] density to 3  105 cm3 (R. W.


Kilb, unpublished data, 1997). Therefore the local Alfven
speed was
VA

B
4pnm1=2

292 km=s

Since the debris traveled at a velocity of 1773 km/s as


shown in Figure 3 and listed in Table 3, it was considered to
be super-Alfvenic [Huba et al., 1990] and should have
produced a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock. However,
the magnetometer on P-6 did not function during the time
interval H-0 to H + 2.6 s due to saturation of the photo
detector from the prompt gammas and bremsstrahlung.
Therefore the magnetic field properties of the shock were
not measured. (This shock was measured at P-2 which was
located 802 km above the burst and will be discussed later).
The average magnetic field measured after H + 2.6 s was
0.06 gauss which indicated that P-6 was still inside the plasma
cavity. The time dependence of the beta flux for the first 6 s as
shown in Figure 3 was a function of the expansion velocity
and the beta emission rate of the fission fragments. J. B. Cladis
(personal communication, 2000) developed the following
equations for the beta flux in an expanding magnetic
cavity:
J t

i
5:73  1021 YF h
0:2
beta=cm2 s for t  tm
1


V03 t 3
4

and
J t

5:73  1021 YF h
3

i
1  1 t 0:2 beta=cm2 s

V0 tmax
for tmax  t  5tmax

where J(t) is the flux of betas in the cavity, YF is the


fission yield of the nuclear device in MT, V0 is the initial
expansion velocity of the debris in km/s, t is the time in
seconds, and tmax is the time when the cavity is fully
expanded. These equations fit the measured values shown
in the top part of Figure 3 to within 15% for the time
period H + 0.2 s to H + 6 s.
[11] The diamagnetic plasma cavity expanded upward
and was detected by instruments on P-7 at 391 km above
the burst point and 82 degrees across field lines. The peak
beta flux was measured at H + 0.63 s as shown in the lower
part of Figure 4. Therefore the average velocity of the peak
beta flux was 620 km/s for the expanding beta flux in the
vertical direction across the magnetic field lines. The Alfven
velocity at this location was 2900 km/s, showing that the
plasma expansion had transitioned from super-Alfvenic to
sub-Alfvenic. The beta flux rise time was 0.2 s and was
longer than 0.064 s as measured at the P-6 position,
signifying a more diffuse plasma boundary as the expansion
slows. The step in the measured rise-time produced by the
shell of early mixed debris with air ions was 0.05 s 
620 km/s = 31 km thick. Again, assuming the average
fission fragment ion has mass 100 and travels with this

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velocity in the 0.257 gauss field, the Larmor radius


would be 25 km, close to the shell thickness. The time
dependence of the beta flux inside the cavity from H +
1.2 s to H + 4.13 s was also reasonably approximated by
equations (4) and (5). The magnetometer on P-7 did not
measure the magnetic field from 3 s before H-0 until 2.96 s
after H-0, as shown in Figure 4. The tape recorder timer was
inadvertently set for 3 s longer than the tape loop rather than
3 s shorter. This resulted in the loss of 3 s of magnetometer
data and the addition of 3 s of beta detector data.
[12] Optical images in the declassified films and reports
of the Starfish Prime Test [Bechtel Nevada, 2000] also
showed that the cavity expansion was not spherically
symmetric but rather expanded upward and downward at
a slower rate than horizontal.
[13] The plasma cavity expanded along the magnetic field
line toward the southern magnetic conjugate region to P-4 at
1021 km from the burst point. P-4 was located on the
magnetic meridian through the burst point but was 170 km
above the field line that went through that point. A significant difference existed between the characteristics of the
Starfish plasma flow in the direction of the field and the
flow across the field. P-4 first detected the plasma cavity as
a small decrease in the magnetic field, as shown in the lower
part of Figure 5. This field decrease was caused by the
expanding diamagnetic sphere in the collisionless plasma
and produced a tension in the direction along the lines of
force [Jackson, 1962]. The decrease began at H + 0.378 s
and reached a minimum of 0.2057 gauss at H + 0.479 s. The
velocity of 2132 km/s calculated from the time of this dip in
the field was close to the post X-ray flash Alfven speed of
2000 to 2800 km/s between P-4 and the burst point. The
magnetic field then started to decrease down to the inside
cavity value of 0.06 G at H + 0.993 s. This drop indicated
that the boundary of the cavity expanded south at a velocity
of 1098 km/s and was most likely driven by the ionized
debris. Hybrid particle simulations of a Starfish type burst
show that the debris ions separate by mass, with the higher
mass near the outer boundary [Brecht, 2001]. As shown in
Figure 5, the first beta particles arrived at H + 0.544 s and
attained a broad maximum flux centering at H + 1.085 s and
resulting in an average velocity of 941 km/s for this flux
tube of beta particles. This velocity also indicated that the
plasma flow was sub-Alfvenic in the southern direction. The
sharp decreases in beta flux at H + 0.962 s and H + 1.330 s
were produced by the angular response of the detector and
the payload spin with a 2.583 Hz frequency, as shown in
Table 2. With knowledge of the spacecraft orientation at H-0
and measurements from all six beta detectors, the flow of
debris and beta particles was determined to be nearly unidirectional and toward the south. During this time period,
spacecraft P-6 and P-7 inside the cavity detected beta particles
that arrived equally from all directions. This unidirectional
flow of beta particles and debris ions toward the southern
conjugate region is one of the beta tube properties
described by Davidson and Hendrick [1980]. After the initial
large pulse of betas ended at H + 1.514 s and before the cavity
boundary collapsed past P-4 at H + 2.162 s the beta flux was
omnidirectional.
[14] Another possible source of this large pulse of beta
flux could be betas that originated in the shell around the
cavity as it expanded 170 km upward, at the velocity

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Figure 4. The P-7 beta detector at 391 km above the burst point measured the prompt gammas at H-0
and then the maximum flux of the expanding bubble boundary at H + 0.63 s. This indicated that the
average velocity was 620 km/s for the debris in the upward direction. The average magnetic field inside
the diamagnetic bubble was 0.06 gauss and it increased to near ambient as the bubble collapsed past P-7
at H + 4.13 s. The beta flux then changed from an omnidirectional to a trapped distribution. Note the
raised 0.00 gauss level for clarity.
measured by P-7, to intersect the field line that passed
through P-4. This mechanism was not very likely, however,
since the arrival time would have been less than H + 0.3 s
rather than the measured H + 0.544 s.
[15] The plasma cavity continued upward and stopped
before it reached P-2 at 802 km above the burst point. P-2
first detected the cavity by a step increase in the magnetic
field at H + 0.297 s, as shown in the lower part of Figure 6.
The local Alfven speed at P-7 after the X-ray flash was
2900 km/s and at P-2 it was 11,000 km/s. Assuming that
the step increase in field traveled at the Alfven speed from
P-6 and using post X-ray flash ion densities provided by R.
W. Kilb (unpublished data, 1997), this time was calculated
to be H + 0.342 s. This calculated time was in reasonable
agreement with the measured time. Subsequently, the sharp

decrease in magnetic field at H + 0.692 s indicated the


passage of the shock front that was initiated earlier when the
plasma was super-Alfvenic. The beta particles did not arrive
until many seconds after the cavity started to collapse;
therefore the plasma expansion stopped at some point
between P-7 and P-2. A rough estimate was obtained by
assuming that the plasma cavity could be modeled as an
expanding superconducting sphere in a uniform magnetic
field B0. The intensity of the field B at a distance r outside a
sphere of radius R is
"
B B0 1

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#1
 3
 
 1 R 6
 2
R 
1  3 cos2 q
1 3 cos2 q : 6
r
4 r

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Figure 5. The P-4 beta flux at 1021 km south of the burst point was unidirectional toward the south and
attained a broad maximum at H + 1.085 s which corresponded to a velocity of 941 km/s. The magnetic
field started to decrease at H + 0.993 s as the cavity boundary reached the payload and this indicated a
velocity of 1098 km/s. The field was restored in the beta tube at H + 2.25 s and the betas changed to a
trapped distribution.
where q is the angle of r with respect to the uniform
magnetic field lines. The measured ambient field before H-0
was 0.230 gauss, the field at H + 1.20 s was 0.268 gauss at
maximum cavity size, the distance to the estimated center of

the sphere was 620 km, and the angle to the field line was
72 degrees. Substituting these values into equation (6) and
allowing the choice of the sphere center to determine the
error amount, the cavity boundary in the direction of P-2

Table 2. Payload Parameters for Starfish at H + 30 s


Parameter

P-2

P-3

P-4

P-6

P-7

Latitude, deg
Longitude, deg
Altitude, km
Trajectory measured distance to burst, km
Spin rate, Hz
Spin axis angle to IGRF 1962 field lines, deg

20.321
191.220
1090.78
846
2.710
72.7

15.109
190.221
309.48
184
2.449
86.0

8.996
188.974
947.98
1083
2.583
72.8

15.259
190.777
439.88
150
2.921
83.4

18.623
191.022
776.57
465
2.632
75.4

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Figure 6. The P-2 beta detector at 802 km above the burst measured prompt gammas at H-0 and a broad
beta peak at H + 25 s that varied with an 8 s period. This indicated that the bubble stopped expanding
before it reached P-2 and instabilities were initiated that sent flutes or jets of debris upward. A
compression wave traveled at the Alfven speed from the expanding bubble caused the sharp rise in the
magnetic field at H + 0.297 s. Subsequently, the bubble collapsed and the field started to decrease at H +
1.76 s.
was calculated to be 450 km from the sphere center and
between 500 and 550 km from the burst point. This value is
about the same (500 km) as that reported by Zinn et al.
[1966] for the stopped distance of the vertical moving debris
from their photographic data and calculations.
[16] If the plasma cavity had been spherically symmetric,
it would have reached payload P-3, which was at 209 km
below and across the field lines in less than 1 s. P-3 did not
detect the high velocity expanding plasma, as the beta flux
measurements show in the lower part of Figure 7. The beta
flux starting at H + 2.15 s exhibited trapped characteristics
since the intensity varied at twice the frequency of the
payload spin rate (listed in Table 2). These betas were

probably due to the azimuthal drift around the cavity of


the betas that were trapped in the curved and compressed
magnetic field at the front of the cavity. Another possible
source could have been the betas mirrored back from the
southern conjugate region since the first trapped betas
detected by the P-4 instruments occurred at H + 2.25 s
when the cavity boundary collapsed past the payload. The
P-3 magnetometer photo detector was saturated by bremsstrahlung radiation and did not measure the field from H-0
to H + 3.25 s. However, the magnetometer on the spare
payload operated on Johnston Island measured a pulse
increase at H + 3.7 s in magnetic field intensity caused by
the cavity expanding down into the ionosphere and com-

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Figure 7. The P-3 data at 209 km below the burst showed that the bubble stopped above the spacecraft.
The beta flux at H + 3 s occurred simultaneously with the compressed field on Johnston Is. P-3 traveled
into the debris at H + 14.5 s and 187.5 km below the burst.
pressing the ion-loaded field as shown in Figure 8. The field
geometry could have changed in a way that guided the beta
particles into the P-3 position. The Johnston Island measurements were 400.9 km below the burst point and the field
changes were attenuated by the intervening ionosphere. The
large pulse from H-0 to H + 0.013 s in Figure 8 could be
either the electromagnetic pulse from the burst or the
magnetic part of the electromagnetic signal launched by
the expansion [Gisler and Lemons, 1989]. The characteristics of the magnetic field measured on Johnston Island
were very similar to those of a geomagnetic storm. The first
field increase of 138 gammas at H + 3.9 s was caused by the
cavity expanding downward and producing a compression
wave. This wave was delayed by the ionosphere and was

similar to the sudden commencement part of a storm. The


second field increase of 260 gamma at H + 27 s, caused by
the general compression of the geomagnetic field, was like
the initial phase of a geomagnetic storm. The last large
field decrease of 730 gamma at H + 71 s was similar to the
main or inflation phase of a storm. However, the large
amplitude indicated that this inflation phase was probably
asymmetric and would have decayed much more rapidly
than an equivalent geomagnetic storm. These same timedependent magnetic field characteristics at lower amplitudes
were measured by other magnetic observatories on the
Earths surface. The 60 Hz sine wave was produced by
ground currents from the local island utility power source.
These payload and ground measurements indicate that the

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Figure 8. The expanding diamagnetic bubble compressed the magnetic field in the downward direction
and this was measured on the surface of Johnston Island with the spare payload at H + 3.75 s. The first
large pulse at H + 0.01 s was caused by the electromagnetic pulse from gamma ray interaction with the
ionosphere and the large excursions starting at H + 20 s resulted from ring currents that were measured
worldwide. The 60 Hz oscillations were caused by the power stations on the Island. The measurements
before the burst were within a few gamma of the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) for
the year 1962.
high velocity cavity expansion was stopped above P-3 but
near enough for some beta particles to be guided to the
payload by the magnetic field. Subsequently, as shown in
the top part of Figure 7, the beta flux increased sharply at
H + 14.5 s and 187.5 km below the burst as P-3 traveled
into the debris deposited in the ionosphere. This distance
agrees with the photographic data by Zinn et al. [1966]
that set a limit of slightly more than 180 km for the
downward debris expansion.
[17] The above measurements, incremented at 1/4 s
intervals during the plasma cavity expansion, are summarized in Table 3. The last three columns show that the flux
of beta particles was almost uniform for the last third of the
expansion period, indicating that the internal cavity pressure
extended into the beta tube. Cavity boundaries as shown in
Figure 1 were drawn from data obtained by all five payloads
at three times during expansion. The shape of the twodimensional boundaries beyond the spacecraft point measurements was determined by (1) assuming a simple shape
that would be consistent with the P-2 magnetic field
measurements; (2) examining the boundary calculated by
a collisionless magnetohydrodynamics (CMHD) code for
the Starfish expansion at 0.8 and 1.0 s [Fajen and Kilb,
1982]; (3) examining the particle plot of the debris location
at 0.24 s from the hybrid particle code SHYPS [Brecht,
2001]; and (4) examining the computed shape of the debris
surface at 0.5 s from a MHD code in the work of Zinn et al.
[1966]. The first boundary was determined by the P-6
detection of betas at 0.066 s in the horizontal direction
and by the calculated velocity of the first peak beta flux
measured by P-7 in the vertical direction. The second
boundary was determined by the P-7 peak beta flux detec-

tion at 0.63 s in the vertical direction, by the P-4 magnetic


field sharp decrease at 0.96 s in the southern direction, and
by the boundary shape in the computer codes. The boundary
at 1.20 s was determined by the magnetic field measurement
at P-2 and P-4, and the shape of the boundary calculated by
the computer codes. The lower boundary was determined by
P-3 at H + 8 s where it was 188 km from the burst point and
measured an increase in beta flux as it approached the debris
deposited in the ionosphere. This boundary probably represents the maximum extent of the plasma cavity in the
downward direction. The particle and field measurements
all indicate that the cavity expansion stopped for approximately 0.5 s, the magnetic field pressure then dominated,
and the cavity started to collapse.
[18] The volume of the diamagnetic cavity allowed the
total number of beta particles to be calculated for times
when at least one payload was inside the cavity. At H + 1.0 s
this volume was calculated from two different sources: (1) the
P-2 measurements of an estimated sphere and (2) the CMHD
code calculation for the volume of this irregular-shaped
expansion boundary. At H + 1.0 s the volume was 3
2  1023 cm3. Payloads P6, P-7, and P-4 all measured 3.8 
1011 beta/cm2 s at H + 1.00 s inside the cavity, as shown in
Table 3. At 1 s after 238U fission occurred, the average beta
energy was 2.5 Mev and had a velocity of 2.95  1010 cm/s.
The volume was 3  1023 cm3 indicating the cavity
contained (3.8  1011)  (3  1023)/(2.95  1010) = 3.9 
1024 betas. The beta decay rate for fission fragments was
approximately constant for the first second and then decayed
as n = n0 t1.2. Estimates based upon the calculations by West
[1966] indicated that 5% of the 238U fission fragments beta
decay had occurred by 1 s. Therefore the total number of

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Table 3. Beta Flux and Magnetic Field Measurements During Plasma Cavity Expansion
P-2 Outside
Cavity

Parameter
Maximum beta
Flux arrival time, s
Cavity boundary
velocity, km/s
Beta flux at H + 0.25
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 0.50
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 0.75
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 1.00
beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 1.20
beta/cm2 s

s,
s,
s,
s,
s,

P-3 Outside
Cavity

P-4 in Beta Tube

P-6 Inside
Cavity

P-7 Inside
Cavity

24.3

2.5

0.96 (field drop 0.993 s)

0.07

(11.3) after stop

N/A

1098 from magnetic


field drop
6.5  109

1670
4.8  10

6.5  109

2.0  1012

below threshold
<3.25  109
1.87  1010

2.8  1011

4.0  1011

3.9  1011

3.8  1011

3.8  1011

3.8  1011

3.5  1011

3.5  1011

3.2  1011

below threshold
<3.24  109
below threshold
<3.24  109
below threshold
<3.24  109
below threshold
<3.24  109
below threshold
<3.24  109

below threshold
<3.04  109
below threshold
<3.04  109
below threshold
<3.04  109
below threshold
<3.04  109
below threshold
<3.04  109

fission betas was estimated to be 7.8  1025. This estimate


represented 10% of the 8  1026 total betas expected from
Starfish. Van Allen [1966] used measurements from his Injun 1
spacecraft to estimate that 1.3  1025 electrons were trapped
from radioactive fission fragments, representing 17% of
the electrons in the cavity and a comparable trapping
efficiency.

4. Plasma Diamagnetic Cavity Collapse


[19] The third event detected by the payloads was the
collapse of the fully expanded cavity. The first indication
was a decrease in the magnetic field measured by the P-2
magnetometer as shown in the lower part of Figure 6. The
magnetic field started to decrease at H + 1.76 s as the
volume of the cavity decreased and the geomagnetic field
was restored. The rate of decrease was slower than the rate
of field increase during the expansion phase. Magnetic field
and beta flux measurements obtained from the other four
payloads also show that the collapse phase occurred at a
slower rate than did the expansion phase.
[20] The next event associated with the cavity collapse
was measured by P-4 instruments at H +2.25 s when the
magnetic field abruptly increased from 0.047 to 0.192 gauss
as it was restored to near ambient value. Also at this time
the beta flux changed from an omnidirectional flow to the
trapped distribution shown in the lower part of Figure 5.
The P-4 magnetometer also measured an oscillating magnetic field near the inner boundary of the beta tube with a
frequency of 11.2 Hz and average peak-to-peak amplitude
of 0.025 gauss. The approximate 3 degrees latitude width of
the beta tube as projected down to the northern conjugate
region is similar to the 3 degrees in latitude elongation of
the peaks in the debris deposition contour map in the
southern conjugate region measured by DArcy and Colgate
[1965].
[21] Subsequently, the plasma cavity boundary was measured as it collapsed downward past P-7 and the field was
restored at H + 4.13 s as shown in the lower part of Figure 4.
The magnetic field increased from a value of 0.06 gauss inside
the cavity to 0.226 gauss outside the cavity, which is near the
ambient preburst value of 0.256 gauss. Simultaneously, the
beta particles changed from an omnidirectional flux of 1.13 
1011 beta/cm2 s inside the cavity to a trapped flux of 1.17 
1011 beta/cm2 s immediately outside the cavity boundary.

0.63
620
12

There was neither gradual nor sharp increase in beta flux as


the inside boundary approached the payload. The beta flux
contained within the cavity was relatively uniform throughout
and only varied between 1 to 3  1011 beta/cm2 s during the
first 7 s of its collapse. This relative constant flux indicated
that the debris ions and beta particles remained near the
location of the outer boundary of the fully expanded cavity
and/or continued outward through instabilities, flutes, and
beta tubes, and were not significantly trapped inside the
collapsing cavity. The average velocity of the plasma boundary was 46 km/s as it traveled 135 km downward from the
outermost position at H + 1.20 s to P-7. The velocity was
similar to the value of 40 km/s that Zinn et al. [1966] measured
from photographs taken from Maui at H + 3, 8, and 16 s.
The P-7 magnetometer also measured an oscillating field
at 11.5 Hz frequency and an average peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.038 gauss near the inside of the cavity
boundary.
[22] The cavity did not continue to collapse in the same
way past spacecraft P-6 where conditions were more chaotic. The average magnetic field inside the plasma cavity
was measured to be 0.06 gauss, which was similar to that at
the P-4 and P-7 sites as shown in Figures 4 and 5. These
figures also show the International Geomagnetic Reference
Field (IGRF) for the year 1962 at the spacecraft locations
[King, 2004]. Magnetometers on all five spacecraft operated
continuously during the collapse phase since transient
radiation effects were minimal. As the plasma cavity collapsed past the P-4 and P-7 sites, the magnetic field
oscillated at 11 Hz for a fraction of a second, as previously
stated, and then increased from this low value to one near
ambient (approximately 0.2 gauss) in a few tenths of a
second. Simultaneously, the beta particle flux changed in
this short time period from an omnidirectional flux at P-7
and at P-4 in the beta tube to a trapped distribution.
However, at the P-6 location (as measurements show in
the top part of Figure 3) the magnetic field started at the
same 0.06 gauss inside the cavity and then slowly increased
to a plateau of 0.09 gauss and remained there from H + 8
to H +10 s as the beta flux decreased from 2  1011
to 2  1010 beta/cm2 s. Then at H + 10.5 s an abrupt
increase in magnetic field occurred from 0.09 gauss to
0.16 gauss, and at H + 12.8 s another step increase
occurred from 0.12 gauss to 0.19 gauss. Both increases
were preceded by the 11 Hz oscillations. One interpreta-

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1.31  1011 trapped


1.02  1011 trapped

no data

0.30  1011 trapped


s,

s,

s,

below threshold
<3.04  109
0.277

0.146

fast rise from 0.039


to 0.081 at 4.06 s
1.05  1011 trapped

1.13  1011 cavity boundary


transits P-7
fast rise from 0.033 to 0.226,
distinct 11.5 Hz wave
0.34  1011 trapped

no data

no data (rises from 0.027 to


0.11G at 2.6 s)
2.0  1011

2.4  1011
2.9  1011

2.54  1011
beta tube collapse
increase 0.054 to 0.192,
distinct 11.2 Hz wave
5.06  1011 trapped

P-7 Inside Cavity


P-6 Inside Cavity

3.5  1011

P-4 in Beta Tube

2.0  1011

P-3 Outside Cavity

below threshold
<3.04  109
5.2  109 trapped

P-2 Outside Cavity

below threshold
<3.24  109
below threshold
<3.24  109
0.254 decreasing to
ambient
below threshold
<3.24  109
0.232 near ambient
s,

Parameter

Beta flux at H + 1.76


beta/cm2 s
Beta flux at H + 2.25
beta/cm2 s
Magnetic field at
H + 2.25 s, gauss
Beta flux at H + 4.13
beta/cm2 s
Magnetic field at
H + 4.13 s, gauss
Beta flux at H + 17.5
beta/cm2 s

Table 4. Beta Flux and Magnetic Field Measurements During Plasma Cavity Collapse

3.0  1011

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tion was that the first step increase was produced by the
lower boundary at 100 km distance, collapsing upward to P-6,
and the second step was produced by the upper boundary
collapsing downward past P-7 to P-6 at 540 km distance from
the upper boundary. The average velocity for the downward
moving boundary was 46 km/s which agreed with the velocity
measured at the P-7 site and with photographic measurements
by Zinn et al. [1966], who described it as a downward moving
shock. If it was a shock, then the 11 Hz oscillations measured
at the P-4, P-6, and P-7 positions as the magnetic field was
restored may have been associated with the air ion gyrofrequency [Kennel and Petschek, 1968]. An O+ ion had a
gyrofrequency of 11 Hz in the 0.11 G field at the P-6
location. The average velocity for the upward moving plasma
was calculated to be 11 km/s. However, the characteristics of
the beta flux at P-6 did not significantly change during either
of the magnetic field step increases as it did during the
boundary collapse past P-4 and P-7. These measurements
may indicate that during the final stages of the collapse, when
the cavity approached the size of the instabilities, the field and
particles measurements would require many closely spaced,
instrumented sites with higher time resolution than the one
site at P-6 to describe its motion adequately.
[23] The above measurements of the collapsing Starfish
plasma cavity are summarized in Table 4. The outer
boundary averages at three selected times as it traversed
the payloads are shown in Figure 9. The end of the collapse
period was chosen at a time when the Earths magnetic field
approached preburst values and all spacecraft detected
trapped beta particles. This occurred at H + 16.4 s when
P-6 measured the angular distribution of trapped betas.
[24] The magnetic field measurements obtained during
the expansion and collapse of the diamagnetic cavity
represented larger-scale phenomena than the particle measurements and provides a useful guideline for comparison
with theoretical modeling calculations. Comparison of the
magnetic field and beta particle flux measurements with
published model calculations for Starfish exhibited similar
time amplitude characteristics. This comparison verified
that the most important physical processes in the models
were appropriate. However, for time periods after the
expansion was completed, the amplitude and time comparisons between the experiment and models differed by a
factor of 10. Future studies of plasma instabilities occurring
at the time of maximum cavity size may significantly
improve these comparisons and our understanding of the
collapse phase.

5. Early Beta Particle Injection Into the


Magnetosphere
[25] The fourth event detected by the spacecraft was the
transition of an omnidirectional beta flux in the cavity to a
trapped flux in the geomagnetic field. Instabilities probably
developed at the cavity boundary permitting some of the
ions and beta particles to stream across the field lines into
the inner radiation belt. These electrons could be identified
among the natural electrons by their energy spectrum for
almost 10 years [Teague and Stassinopoulos, 1972]. Beta
particle and magnetic field measurements by this experiment provided information about the transport of beta
particles to B,L coordinates where the lifetimes of the
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Figure 9. The outer boundary of the Starfish plasma bubble measured by payloads P-4, P-7, and P-6 at
four time steps as it collapses and disappears. Boundaries are averages of the instability driven structures
as the geomagnetic field was restored to its original configuration.
injected beta particles would be on the order of months to
years. This section is organized by discussing the beta
particle and magnetic field measurements in sequence, from
the beta tube at P-4 to the lowest altitude spacecraft P-3 in
the ionosphere, up through P-6 and P-7, and finally to P-2.
This section also covers the beta particle measurements
obtained in real time from H-0 to H + 16 min where P-7
attained the highest altitude at coordinates B = 0.212 gauss
and L = 1.307 which was near the most intense region of the
artificial radiation belt.
[26] One mechanism that could have produced this artificial belt was the restructuring of the diamagnetic cavity by
Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities into jets or flutes that propagate outward after the cavity stops expanding and starts to
collapse [Colgate, 1965; Huba et al., 1990; Ripin et al.,
1993; Winske, 1988]. Another mechanism, proposed by
Cladis [1968], contends that betas were trapped at high
L values because the debris tube becomes elongated and
distorted, mainly because an eastward electric field appears
across the tube that causes the tube to E  B drift outward.
Both Zinn et al. [1966] and Cladis [1968] ascribe the thick
Starfish belt to such an eastward electric field, but they differ
on the source of this field. Zinn et al. [1966] ascribe it to the
motional electric field (E = V  B), produced by the
outward motion of the debris across the magnetic field at
the upper boundary of the cavity, and propagated along the
debris tube as an Alfven wave. Also, as described by Cladis
[1968] and modeled by Cladis et al. [1979] and Cladis et al.
[2006], this eastward electric field was produced by the
differential azimuthal drift of the energetic ions (toward the
west) and electrons (toward the east) as these ions (debris,
etc.) expanded along the tube from the cavity.

[27] Beta flux measurements for the entire flight time of


each payload were obtained in real time from one of the
three detectors with entrance aperture directed along the
spin axis. The data were smoothed by plotting an envelope
of the trapped beta flux spin oscillations as shown in
Figure 10. These real-time measurements along with the
30 s recorded measurements were used to develop a twodimensional graph of the trapped beta flux in the magnetic
meridian through Johnston Island as shown in Figure 11.
All payloads measured trapped betas at H + 23 s and the
data is summarized in Table 5 and listed by each payload in
Figure 11. At that time the measured magnetic field intensity was very close to the preburst ambient field as predicted
by the IGRF 1962 model and the angular distributions were
stable for periods from 5 to 20 s. The boundaries of the
colored bands in Figure 11 were determined from real-time
beta detector measurements obtained during the time H-0 to
H + 15.8 min. There existed some substructure within the
bands, and for descriptive purposes the bands are labeled
from the lowest to the highest as P-3, P-6, P-7, and P-2.
[28] The beta tube produced simultaneously with the
expanding plasma cavity channeled a large amount of debris
and beta particles directly to the southern conjugate region,
where delayed fission gamma rays were measured by
DArcy and Colgate [1965]. Measurements of these particles in transit were obtained by P-4 located inside the beta
tube 1021 km south of the burst point. After restoration of
the geomagnetic field in the beta tube, betas were then
trapped and the angular distribution at H + 3.67 s was
calculated by averaging the beta flux during three payload
spins. The results as shown in the bottom left graph of
Figure 12 indicated that many of the betas at smaller pitch

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Figure 10. Beta flux measured along the payload spin axis until reentry. These data show where the
fission debris was located after the bubble collapsed and instabilities had diminished.
angles would be lost by interaction with the atmosphere.
During the time period H + 2.4 s to H + 5.5 s the beta flux
was at the highest level measured at the P-4 location. At
approximately H + 5.7 s the beta flux decreased by a factor
of 4 and the angular distribution changed to one broadened
by losses to the atmosphere. This distribution persisted to
the end of the data recording period as shown in upper part
of Figure 5. In addition, the real time P-4 beta flux
measurements detected the boundary between the P-3 and
P-6 bands shown in Figure 11 as P-4 traveled downward
through the boundary at H + 359 s at an altitude of 701 km.
P-4 also exited the lowest boundary of band P-3 at H + 470 s
at 446 km altitude. During this later time the field intensity

and structure were near preburst ambient conditions, and the


trapped betas remained stable for many minutes. Most of
these particles would be lost to interactions with the
atmosphere over the South Atlantic Anomaly, since the
L value was 1.17 at this measurement location. However,
the debris remaining in the flux tube containing the burst
region maintained a trapped flux at >1  1010 beta/cm2 s
for 6 min based upon the P-4 real-time measurements
shown in Figure 10.
[29] Payload P-3 located 202 km below and across the
magnetic field lines from the burst point detected a lowintensity pulse of trapped betas starting at H + 3 s as shown
in the top part of Figure 7. These trapped betas were

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Figure 11. Starfish omnidirectional beta flux at H + 23 s when all five payloads first measured trapped
beta angular distributions. The bands following the geomagnetic field lines were determined from both
recorded data shown in the previous figures and the real time measurements shown in Figure 10.
coincident with the delayed magnetic pulse passing through
the ionosphere from the expanding debris as shown in
Figure 8. The low-intensity pulse of beta particles was then
followed by a steady increase of beta flux as P-3 traveled up
into the ionosphere. This very turbulent period was followed by a field decrease at H + 14.5 s at 187.5 km below
the burst point where the cavity had stopped, deposited
debris and then receded during the collapse phase. At the
P-3 location the betas again had the angular characteristics of being trapped. There followed by a 4.7 s period
of more intense beta flux which then decreased to a
steady trapped flux at H + 22.7 s, as shown in the upper
right of Figure 12 by the angular distribution (calculated
by averaging flux from three payload spins). P-3 detected
the boundary between the P-3 and the P-6 band (shown
in Figure 11) as it traveled up through it at H + 85 s at
463 km. P-3 also detected the lowest boundary of band
P-3 as it traveled downward through it at H + 829 s and
an altitude of 452 km.
[30] Of the five payloads, P-6 was located nearest to the
burst point and measured the most intense beta flux and the
most turbulent magnetic field changes for the longest time

period as shown in the top part of Figure 3. The rubidium


magnetometer measured the field from H  5.13 s to H-0
and from H + 2.56 to H + 25.44 s. During these time periods
there were three major changes in the magnetic field during
the collapse phase of the plasma cavity. The first two
occurred at H + 10.5 s and H + 12.8 s when the cavity
boundaries collapsed from below and above the burst point.
The third change occurred at H + 15.5 s when the magnetic
field approached its ambient configuration and trapped beta
particles were observed. This payload was the last to detect
the transition of the beta flux from an omnidirectional to a
trapped angular distribution. At H + 15.8 s the magnetic
field rapidly decreased from 0.20 to 0.17 gauss, and the beta
flux started to exhibit the characteristics of a trapped angular
distribution that persisted for the duration of the flight. The
angular distribution of the beta flux calculated by averaging
flux from five payload spins at H + 23.5 s is shown in the
upper left of Figure 12. The relatively narrow distribution
indicates that these electrons were in the early stages of
oscillation between mirror points and had not been scattered
to a significant extent by the atmosphere. P-6 also measured
the boundary between the P-6 and P-7 bands in Figure 11

Table 5. Beta Flux and Magnetic Field Measurements During Particle Injection Into the Earths Magnetic Field
Parameters

P-2

P-3

P-4

P-6

P-7

Beta flux at H + 23 s, beta/cm2 s


Magnetic field at H + 23 s, gauss
IGRF 1962 field at H + 23 s, gauss
L value at H + 23 s
Walt/Newkirk decay time constant (1/e), days

4.66  1010
0.22601
0.22322
1.266
275

2.92  1010
0.24981
0.29927
1.081
<0.1

1.24  1011
0.20205
0.22104
1.136
<0.1

1.45  1011
0.19590
0.28278
1.102
<0.1

2.26  1010
0.25450
0.25057
1.191
168

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Figure 12. The angular distribution of trapped beta particles measured by all five payloads. P-6 at H +
23.5 s in the upper left graph shows the early time characteristics before significant scattering and
absorption by the atmosphere. P-7 in the middle left graph shows that atmospheric effects produced a
distribution that was wider and more uniform. P-4 in the lower left graph shows the characteristics that
immediately followed the restoration of the field in the beta tube at H + 3.67 s and then at H + 23 s when
atmospheric effects had commenced. P-3 in the upper right graph shows the distribution at H + 22.7 s and
183 km below the burst point where the debris was stopped by the ionosphere. P-2 in the middle right
graph shows the distribution at H + 34 s and H + 69 s when the distance from the burst point was 851 km
and 895 km. Variations in the distribution indicated that the instability structures were maintained during
the injection of betas into the most intense region of the Starfish artificial radiation belt. P-2 in the lower
right graph shows the angular distribution measured at H + 34 s transformed to an equatorial distribution.
Studies by Walt [1966] indicated that beta particles at these coordinates (B = 0.220 gauss and L = 1.277)
would have a lifetime greater than 275 days.
when the real time beta flux decreased to a minimum as it
left the boundary at H + 475 s at an altitude of 1037 km.
[31] The P-7 payload located 391 km above the burst
point and across the magnetic field lines measured magnetic
fields and beta particle fluxes from the Starfish burst that
best fit the model of an ideal diamagnetic cavity expanding
into the geomagnetic field. Measurements shown in Figure 4
indicated that the field was quickly restored from 0.06 to
0.227 gauss at H + 4.13 s as the boundary of the plasma
cavity collapsed past P-7. Simultaneously, the beta flux
changed from 1.3  1011 beta/cm2 s omnidirectional to
1.2  1011 beta/cm2 s trapped angular distribution as
shown in Figure 4. The trapped angular distribution was
calculated by averaging four spacecraft spins, and the
results are shown in the middle left of Figure 12. The

timing, angular distribution, and intensity indicated that


the betas originated from a region near the cavity boundary
and not from a broader region. The 1.64 s period of relatively
high beta flux just outside the boundary of the cavity is similar
to that measured by the P-4 instrument when the magnetic
field was restored in the beta tube. Since the boundary
collapse speed was 46 km/s, the 1.64 s period of relatively
high beta flux indicated that this region was 75 km thick. At
H + 5.5 s the beta flux sharply decreased from 1.02  1011 to
4.4  1010 beta/cm2 s as these betas spread across field lines.
The angular distribution widened as shown in Figure 12.
At H + 10 s the magnetic field had returned to almost preburst
ambient conditions and the trapped beta flux remained
relatively constant to the end of the recording period.
At H + 30.3 s when P-7 was 464 km above the burst point, the

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Figure 13. The P-2 trapped betas measured by a detector orthogonal to the payload spin axis from 817
to 895 km above the burst point. The 8 s periodicity in the beta flux is similar to that observed by P-2
detectors oriented along the spin axis shown in Figure 6. Beta flux measured during 11 spins at H + 34 s
and 7 spins at H + 69 s were averaged to calculate the two angular distributions shown for P-2 in
Figure 12.
angular distribution (calculated by averaging 10 payload
spins) broadened by atmospheric scattering and did not
exhibit the high-frequency time variations that were measured at earlier times. Spacecraft P-7 then traveled upward
through three regions of trapped betas. At H + 28 s the
spacecraft entered the first region at 766 km altitude; the flux
started to increase and reached a maximum at H + 51 s at an
altitude of 829 km, then decreased to a minimum at H + 96 s at
an altitude of 930 km. This maximum real-time flux measurement occurred at the location of the fully expanded
plasma cavity boundary as shown in Figure 1, which probably
indicated that some of the debris remained after the cavity
collapsed downward. The minimum at 930 km was used to
define the boundary between the P-7 and P-2 bands. P-7
reached a slightly lower maximum flux inside the second
region of the P-2 band at H + 144 s and altitude 1022 km and
then ended at H + 200 s at an altitude of 1109 km. The third
region also had a slightly lower maximum flux of 3.7 
109 beta/cm2 s at H + 300 s and altitude 1210 km with
coordinates (B,L = 0.213 G, 1.292). Then P-7 reentered
the upper boundary of band P-2 at H + 650 s at an
altitude of 1015 km as shown in Figure 11.
[32] As previously stated, the Starfish upper cavity
boundary stopped at H + 1.20 s approximately 260 km
below P-2. The most intense beta flux arrived at P-2 at H +
25 s, as shown in the upper graph of Figure 6. This
indicated an upward velocity of 10.4 km/s. There was one
flute or flux tube that preceded the most intense one and
there were six more that followed in approximately 8 s
intervals and all exhibited trapped beta characteristics. The
beta flux measurements shown in Figure 6 are from one of
the three detectors with aperture viewing along the spin axis
of the payload. The rubidium vapor magnetometer was
mounted on a telescoping mount that shielded 23% of the
solid angle of this detector. This spinning shield produced

an oscillation in the measurements of a trapped beta flux


that had a frequency equal to the payload spin rate. The P-2
discriminator on the prompt gamma coincidence circuit was
set too high and as a result the tape recorder transmitted
only high-frequency magnetometer data for the 27-s period
after H-0. The beta flux measurement in the top part of
Figure 6 is composed of 30 s of real-time data from H-4 s to
H + 26 s and 46 s of recorded data from H + 26 s to H + 69 s.
The three detectors with viewing directions orthogonal to the
spin axis and also perpendicular to the magnetic field were
used to measure the angular distribution and the results from
one of these detectors are shown in Figure 13. It exhibits an
oscillation in the beta flux at twice the spacecraft spin rate and
was used to calculate the angular distribution at H + 34 s by
calculating an average of 4 spins and at H + 69 s by calculating
an average of 12 spins. The results are shown in the middle
right P-2 panel of Figure 12. The payload then reached
the upper edge of the shaded boundary at H + 185 s and
1163 km, and the flux decreased below the instrument
threshold.
[33] The low-frequency particle flux oscillations occurring at H + 15, 25, 33, 42, 51, and 58 s in the top panel of
Figure 6 could have been caused by Rayleigh-Taylor
instabilities developed at the boundary of the stopped
bubble. These flute-like instabilities with rotational flow
characteristics were similar to those described by Bernhardt
et al. [1987] and Huba et al. [1992] in their study of subAlfvenic plasma expansions of the AMPTE and CRESS
barium releases. Many investigators have studied and modeled plasma instabilities with similar properties [Brecht and
Gladd, 1992; Colgate, 1965; Huba et al., 1990; Ripin et al.,
1993; Winske, 1988].These beta flux oscillations could also
have been related to the standing wave of the debris tube
excited by the electric field in the tube [Cladis, 1968; Cladis
et al., 1979].

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[34] The data for P-2 in the middle right panel of


Figure 12 at H + 34 s were used to calculate the equatorial
pitch angle distribution shown in the lower right panel.
Since the L value is 1.269 at this location, a significant
fraction of these beta particles would have a 1/e lifetime of
greater than 275 days [Able and Thorne, 1998; Newkirk and
Walt, 1968]. This flux of 2.5  1010 beta/cm2 s at the (B, L =
0.153 G, 1.269) location was near the most intense region of
the artificial belt mapped by Van Allen [1966], who measured
the flux to be 1  109 beta/cm2 s at H + 10 hours with the
Injun I spacecraft. As P-7 traversed this region at H + 5 min,
the flux was 3.7  109 beta/cm2 s at coordinates (B, L =
0.213 G, 1.292). The L values and angular distributions for
the beta flux in the middle of the P-7 band indicated a 1/e
lifetime of 168 days. The L values and angular distributions
for the betas in the P-3, P-4, and P-6 bands indicated a 1/e
lifetime of less than a day, as listed in Table 5, since each drift
through the South Atlantic Anomaly would have dumped
most of the electrons into the atmosphere.

6. Summary
[35] In summary, this experiment measured the formation
and evolution of the Starfish diamagnetic cavity produced in
the Earths magnetosphere.
[36] Five instrumented rocket payloads located in the
magnetic meridian around the Starfish burst point first
detected the prompt fission gammas and then the 14.5 Mev
fusion neutrons. These measurements were used to calculate
the distance from the payloads to the burst point and also
provided a time mark for the detonation event.
[37] The expansion velocity of the ionized fission fragments and beta particles into the ion loaded geomagnetic
field was measured to be super-Alfvenic at H + 0.066 s and
117 km distance from the burst and then transitioned to subAlfvenic speed before H + 0.630 s and 391 km distant. The
diamagnetic cavity boundary expanded past P-6, P-7 across
the field lines at 117 and 391 km distant, respectively, and
also past P-4 which was 1021 km along the field lines
toward the southern conjugate region. The expanding cavity
boundary stopped at H + 1.2 s before it reached P-2 and P-3
which were 802 km above and 209 km below the burst
point, respectively. Both payloads were across the field
lines. P-4, P-6, and P-7 measurements showed that the
contained beta flux was uniform and relatively constant at
2  1011 beta/cm2 s during the last phase of the expansion
and for at least 6 s of the collapse. The magnetic shock and
compression wave were measured 802 km above the burst.
When P-2 was at 804 km above the burst this compressed
field started to decrease at H + 1.76 s, which indicated that
the diamagnetic cavity had started to collapse. Simultaneously, ions and electrons escaped along field lines to the
north and south conjugate regions as measured by P-4
which also detected the magnetic field restored at H +
2.25 s as the beta tube collapsed. The uppermost cavity
boundary collapsed downward past P-7 at 46 km/s and the
magnetic field was restored to near ambient values at H +
4.13 s. P-6 located near the center of the cavity measured
the upper boundary continuing to collapse downward with
velocity 46 km/s and the lower boundary collapsed upward
at 11 km/s. All instrumented payloads detected trapped beta
particles at H + 16.4 s, indicating that the geomagnetic field

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was restored and the diamagnetic cavity collapse was


complete.
[38] The early time trapped beta fluxes were measured
from H + 3 s to H + 15 min at the B, L locations of the
rocket payloads. These beta particles were probably injected
into an artificial radiation belt by plasma instabilities that
occurred near the time of maximum cavity size. These
instabilities may have restructured the boundary into flutes
that permitted the fission fragments and beta particles to
travel upward at 10.4 km/s across the field lines. An equally
probable mechanism that could have injected the betas into
the higher L value locations was a standing wave in the
debris tube that was excited by the electric field in the tube.
P-2 measured a maximum omnidirectional flux of 4  1010
beta/cm2 s during the passage of these structures at H + 25 s.
P-7 later traveled upward through this location at H +
10 min and measured a flux of 6  109 beta/cm2 s. The
location of P-2 was B = 0.153 G and L = 1.269, which was
near the most intense region of the artificial belt mapped by
Injun 1 at H + 10 hours with a peak flux of 1  109 beta/
cm2 s.
[39] The following main uncertainties may be inferred
from these measurements: (1) the distribution, shape, and
size of the flutes over the entire cavity at the time of
maximum cavity size and (2) the fraction of betas injected
into the radiation belts from the instabilities, beta tubes,
debris patches, and other processes. Many more than five
payloads would be required to measure adequately these
Starfish diamagnetic cavity properties.

Appendix A: Plasma Diamagnetic Cavity Size


Estimation and Spacecraft Site Selection
[40] An estimation of the radial extent of the Starfish
plasma cavity was calculated in order to select locations for
instrumented payloads to measure the particles and fields
associated with the burst. Rule-of-thumb estimates of nuclear
weapon energy partition indicated that approximately 60%
would go into X rays, 25% into debris kinetic energy, and
15% into neutrons, gamma rays, beta particles, etc. This
energy partition is strongly dependent upon weapon design
and the surrounding hardware. For a rough estimate the yield
was approximated as 1 MT with a weight of 1 ton of iron
that expanded as a spherical shell from the burst point.
Therefore the following kinetic energy of the debris was
determined: K.E. = (0.25 MT)  (4.2  1022 erg/MT) =
1.05  1022 ergs = 1/2 mbv2b, where mb = bomb mass =
(2000 lbs)  (454 gm/lb) = 9.08  105 gm. and the
debris velocity is therefore vb = 1.52  108 cm/s.
[41] The local Alfven speed after the X-ray flash was
300 km/s, so the plasma was categorized as super-Alfvenic.
After a few microseconds the debris was assumed to be
completely ionized and the expanding plasma to be collisionless and highly conducting. It would therefore push the
geomagnetic field outward and the electrons would pick up
all the ambient air ions. Considering conservation of momentum per steradian and ignoring charge exchange and momentum transfer to the field:

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mb vb hmair mb i

v
4p
4p
4p

A1

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and

v vb

mb
mb mair

A2

where mb is the bomb debris mass, vb is the debris velocity,


and mair is the mass of air ions swept up by the expanding
debris plasma.
[42] Considering conservation of energy per steradian:


 2 
1 1
1 4 3
B
2
mair mb v
pR
8p
4p 2
4p 3

A3

where R is the plasma expansion radius and B is the


intensity of the geomagnetic field. An expression for the
radius of expansion is obtained by substituting v from
equation (A2) into equation (A3) and solving for R:
R3

3v2b m2b
mair

B2 mb

A4

with the initial condition that vb = 1.52  108 cm/s and in


the final state vb = 0 at the full expansion radius.
[43] If one assumed a uniform magnetic field and no air
ions, then the plasma expansion radius would be R =
[3(1.52  108)2 (9.08  105)/(0.287)2]1/3 = 914 km.
[44] For the distances involved, both the mass of the air
ions mair and the geomagnetic field vary as a function of R.
Estimates were calculated for the horizontal, vertical, and
downward direction by integrating the amount of air ions
and magnetic field in each direction.
[45] In the horizontal direction it was assumed that the
X rays did not contribute additional ionization, that only
air ions were picked up at the 400 km altitude, and that
the magnetic field was a constant 0.287 gauss. The O+
and H+ density at this altitude was approximately 2.8 
1017 gm/cm3 and therefore the maximum radius was calculated to be R = 425 km.
[46] In the vertical direction the ion density was7 approximated with the equation r = 2.3  1016 eh/1.310 gm/cm3,
where h = r + 400  105 cm and r is the distance from the burst.
The magnetic field varied as 1/r3 and the upward distance was
calculated to be R = 950 km.
[47] In the downward direction a significant number of air
ions were produced by the bomb X rays. An approximate fit
to the ion profile was estimated to be


400r
r 1:5  106 4:6  1013 e11:8km ions=cm3

A5

and the calculated distance in the downward direction was


R = 210 km.
[48] On the basis of these calculations a decision was
made that a minimum of five instrumented payloads would
be placed in the magnetic meridian around the Starfish burst
at the locations shown in Figure 1. These positions were
chosen to bracket most of the early time phenomenology.
The fission beta particle flux, ion density, and magnetic
field were selected to be measured at each site for a period
of 30 s with a frequency response greater than 1 kHz. Lowfrequency data at 55 Hz were transmitted continuously

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during the entire flight period. The trajectories of these


payloads are shown in Figure 1 and some of the location
parameters measured at burst time are listed in Table 1. The
dark-enhanced portion of the trajectories depicts the distance traveled during the 30-s period that high-frequency
data were recorded and continually transmitted to receiving
sites located on islands shown in Figure 1. Payload altitude,
latitude, longitude, and distance to the burst point at H-0 are
shown in Table 1 and the same parameters 30 s later are
shown in Table 2. The differences in coordinates and
distance to the burst point between these two times were
small compared to the plasma bubble sizes. Therefore the
variation of each parameter with time can be treated as a
linear function.
[49] A spare payload was also operated on Johnston
Island and measured the magnetic field from H-0 to H +
360 s. H-0 s refers to the burst time of the Starfish
detonation.

Appendix B: Instruments and Spacecraft


Properties
[50] The general approach was to define a set of instruments, payloads, and booster rockets that would produce
reliable measurements and be robust enough to survive and
operate in the Starfish radiation environment. All instrument
and payload systems were designed to be identical and eight
payloads were fabricated and tested. Lithium drifted silicon
solid state detectors were chosen for beta particle measurements, as well as silicon surface barrier detectors for the
gamma and neutron measurements. A Faraday Cup was
chosen for a low-energy ion detector, and a rubidium vapor
magnetometer for magnetic field measurements. Significant
amounts of shielding mass were required to minimize the
radiation effects on the electronics and this in turn required
the use of the upper two stages of the flight-proven Scout
vehicle as the booster system to place the payloads into the
selected positions around the burst.

B1. Instruments
B1.1. Beta Detectors
[51] Six beta detectors were located around the payload at
120-degree increments as shown in the lower right side of
Figure B1. Three detectors had view angles orthogonal to
the spin axis and three along the spin axis. The flight
attitude of this system was maintained after second stage
burnout until reentry and splash. A schematic drawing of an
outward and upward looking beta detector is shown in the
lower left side of Figure B1. Each detector consisted of a
0.5  0.5 cm2 lithium-drifted solid state detector with a
1mm thick depletion layer. A photograph of this detector
manufactured by Solid State Radiation, Inc. is also shown in
Figure B1. The detectors were covered with a 0.002-cm
thick aluminum foil and were recessed 1.83 cm into the
center of a 2.24 cm diameter hole in the 3.81 cm. thick
nylon cylinder. The geometrical view angle was calculated
to be 66 degrees. The angular response of both the outward
and upward looking detectors was measured with 1.047 MeV
internal conversion electrons from 207Bi, and a typical result
is shown in Figure B2. Those data show that approximately
85% of 1 MeV betas will be counted within the geometrical

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Figure B1. A scale drawing of the payload is shown in the lower right section of the figure. The longest
dimension was 5.2 m and the maximum diameter was 0.79 m. It was constructed of fiberglass, aluminum,
and nylon. The lower left side is a drawing of the beta detector in the nylon bremsstrahlung shield. Each
sensor was 0.5  0.5 cm square lithium-drifted solid state detector with a 1 mm thick depletion region
and covered with a 0.002 cm thick aluminum foil. A photo of the detector is shown in the middle left
side. The top photo shows the rubidium magnetometer which is a quantum electronic instrument that
measures the Larmor frequency of the Rb nucleus as it precessed in the Earths magnetic field.

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in order to calculate the flux an average value of 2.5 MeV


was chosen for the incident beta energy. From the energy
response curve in Figure B2 a 2.5 MeV beta deposited
approximately 0.5 MeV in the detector. Therefore since all
silicon detectors required 3.6 eV loss by a beta particle to
produce one electron-hole pair, it followed that one microamp of the detector current was



1mA 1  106 C=s 3:6eV4psr
. 



1:602  1019 C 0:5  106 eV=beta 0:253 cm2 sr
B1

1mA 2:234  109 beta=cm2 s:

Figure B2. The top graph is the energy response of the


beta detector using a collimated beam of electrons from 0.06
to 15 MeV. The bottom graph is the angular response of the
beta detector using collimated 1.047 MeV betas from a
207
Bi source.
view angle of 66 degrees. The detector geometric factor was
0.253 cm2 steradian for detectors with view angles
orthogonal to the spin axis. The fiberglass telescope used
to extend the magnetometer away from the electronics
reduced the upward viewing detectors geometric factor
by 23%.
[52] The energy response was limited at low energies by
the 0.002 cm thick aluminum foil, which stopped electrons
below 55 KeV and was dependent upon the depletion layer
thickness at the high-energy end. Low beta intensity calibrations utilized 137Cs monoenergetic 0.662 MeV electrons,
Bi207 monoenergetic 1.047 MeV electrons, and single-pulse
operation of the General Atomic linear accelerator from
0.5 to 15 MeV. High intensity beta calibrations were
conducted at Oak Ridge with a 1200 Curie 90Sr beta
source that emitted 4.44  1013 beta/s at 2.18 and 0.61 MeV.
The General Atomic linear accelerator was also used in the
single and multiple pulse modes to calibrate the detectors
with electrons from 1 to 15 MeV and intensities up to
1014 electrons/cm2 s. The best fit to all of this calibration
data is shown in Figure B2.
[53] The output of the beta detector instrument was
current in microamps as a function of time, and in order
to convert the measurements to omnidirectional beta/cm2 s,
the beta energy spectrum must be known. The Oak Ridge
Isotope Generation and Depletion Code (Version 2) was
used to determine the beta spectrum for 238U fast fission for
the first 30 s after fission [Croff, 1980]. The average beta
energy varied from 2.5 MeV at 1 s and 1.55 MeV at 30 s and

B2

This was the conversion factor used in the last stage of beta
detector data reduction.
[54] Preflight estimates of the beta flux levels at each of
the five payload positions required a detector system that
had a dynamic range of 5 decades. The high-frequency beta
flux measurements recorded for the first 30 s in this paper
were selected from the detectors looking orthogonal to the
spacecraft spin axis that had the highest telemetry frequency
response and the best overall characteristics of these three
detectors. The average error for these measurements was
approximately 4% for the variation between detectors
when the spacecraft was inside the plasma cavity and the
flux was omnidirectional. The total error depended upon the
beta particle angular distribution since the six detectors
covered only 6.072 steradians out of the total 4p steradians.
B1.2. Magnetometers
[55] Each payload contained a magnetometer that measured the total magnetic field intensity as a function of time.
The magnetometer sensor was located at the top end of a
fiberglass telescope which used a gas generating device to
move the sensor 1.5 m above the electronics housed in the
nylon cylinder after second stage burnout and nose cone
ejection. This kept the spacecraft-generated magnetic field
levels below 5  105 gauss at the sensor position. The
magnetometer measured the Larmor frequency of the 85Rb
spinning nucleus magnetic moment as it precessed in the
Earths magnetic field. This frequency depended upon the
magnitude of the ambient magnetic field, the magnetic
moment of the nucleus, and known physical constants
[Forbes, 1987]. The gyromagnetic ratio of 85Rb was
4.667 Hertz/105 gauss. The ambient magnetic field at the
Starfish burst point was 0.287 gauss which produced a
Larmor frequency of 4.667  28,700 = 133,942.9 Hertz and
this signal was transmitted to the ground. The frequency
response of these magnetometers was measured to be less
than one Larmor period [Dyal et al., 1969]. The magnetometer responded to a step increase in field from 0 to
0.19 gauss in less than 3 ms and the average error for
these measurements was 0.5%. A photograph of the
rubidium vapor magnetometer sensor is shown in the top
of Figure B1.
B1.3. Gamma-Neutron Detectors
[56] The gamma-neutron detector consisted of a surface
barrier silicon solid state device with a polyethylene foil

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covering the front that utilized a neutron-proton recoil


reaction to detect energetic neutrons. This detector had
a 1 cm2 sensitive area and a depletion region 180 microns
thick produced by a 60 volt bias. The output of the charge
sensitive amplifier was a 0 to 5 volt signal for an input of
1.11  1010 to 1.11  1015 gamma Mev/cm2 s. It was
calibrated over its complete dynamic range at four facilities:
(1) the electron linear accelerator at General Atomic which
generated a pulse intensity from 1 to 1  1017 electrons/pulse
and operated from a single pulse to 800 pulses/s, (2) The
TRIGA MK II 6400 megawatt pulsed nuclear reactor at
General Atomic which operated in a single 10 ms long
pulsed mode producing 4  1016 neutrons/cm2 s and 4 
107 gamma rads/cm2 s during the pulse, (3) The Godiva II
bare pulsed critical 235U assembly at the Sandia Corporation
which operated in a 60 ms pulse width mode and an intensity
of 1  1017 neutrons/cm2 s and 1  107 gamma rads/s, and
(4) The Oak Ridge National Laboratory hot cell facility
which possessed a 4000 Curie 60Co source that emitted 1.17
and 1.33 MeV gammas at 1.48  1014 gamma MeV/s.
[57] The detector was shielded from high-energy beta
particles by being located at the center of the payload. For
this paper, the early time data from this instrument was used
to measure the distance from the burst to the payload by a
time-of-flight technique. Prompt gamma rays (8 MeV)
from the fission burning phase of the Starfish device and the
14.5 MeV neutrons from the fusion reactions were produced
in a time much shorter than the response time of our
telemetry system. The gammas reached the detector at the
speed of light (2.998  1010 cm/s) and the 14.5 MeV
neutrons traveling at a velocity of 5.207  109 cm/s arrived
at the detector at times late enough to be differentiated by
our telemetry system, thereby allowing the distance to the
burst point to be calculated. The prompt gamma pulse
was also used as a fiducial time mark for all the other
measurements.

B2. Rocket Payloads


[58] Trajectories for the five payloads are shown in
Figure 1. Magnetic field lines are shown in the geomagnetic meridian plane that intersects Johnston Island. The
payload trajectories were chosen to be as close as
possible to this plane during the measurement period.
Postflight data analysis determined that all the payloads
were within 11 km of the magnetic meridian plane through the
burst point during the 30 s period of high-frequency data
recording. During the remainder of the flight all payloads
were within 1 degree of the meridian except P-6 which ended
flight 8.5 degrees west of the meridian. The trajectory altitude,
latitude, and longitude were calculated from telemetry
receiving antenna look angles. The distance from the burst
point to the payload was determined from this trajectory data
and from the fusion neutron time-of-flight measurements.
The results are shown in Table 1 and in addition the magnetic
field measurements provided added information on the accuracy of these results. The neutron time-of-flight measurements were more accurate and were used to calculate plasma
expansion velocities at all payloads except P-2.
[59] The payload in flight configuration shown in
Figure B1 weighted 321.5 kilograms and the cylindrical
section that housed the electronics was a nylon cylinder

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38.1 cm long, 66 cm diameter, with 3.81 cm thick walls.


This low Z nylon was also chosen to minimize the
bremsstrahlung produced by the fission fragment beta
particles. The electronic subsystems were shielded from
the electromagnetic pulse from the Starfish burst and the
10 watts of VHF power radiated from the telemetry antennas
by a thin laminated copper-clad fiberglass cylinder covering
the entire inner surface of the nylon cylinder.
[60] The rocket boosters used to position the five payloads around the Starfish nuclear burst were the second and
third stages of the flight proven Scout Vehicle. Two additional Thiokol Recruit X-19 boosters were added to initially
assist at liftoff. The entire rocket assembly was aerodynamically stabilized during the first stage of flight through the
atmosphere and inertial spin stabilized during the second
stage boost and for the remainder of the suborbital flight
time. The spin rates remained constant and the spin axis
angle with respect to the local magnetic field direction at H-0
is shown in the seventh row of Table 2.
[61] The design of the telemetry system conformed to the
Department of Defense telemetry standards developed by
the Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG). This system
transmitted information at a 100 KHz rate by frequency
modulating a very high frequency (VHF) carrier. Carrier
frequencies for the five spacecraft were as follows: P-2 =
247.3 MHz, P-3 = 237.0 MHz, P-4 = 229.9 MHz, P-6 =
221.5 MHz, and P-7 = 216.5 MHz. This minimized the
blackout period following the burst.
[62] Owing to the severe attenuation of the VHF carrier
signal at the time (H-0) of the Starfish burst, a 30 s closed
loop tape recorder was used to store data from H-3 to H +
27 s. This recorded data was then played back repeatedly
through the transmitter to receiving sites at islands shown in
Figure 1. The tape recorder had two tracks: one for the
rubidium magnetometer and another for the 17 channels of
beta detector, gamma-neutron, and Faraday Cup data. A
timer was used to stop the record-erase function of the tape
recorder after a time 3 s less than the 30 s tape loop time.
This timer was started by the prompt gammas from the
nuclear burst. The prompt gamma detector assembly consisted of three surface barrier silicon solid state detectors
connected so that a coincidence from any two would trigger
the tape recorder timer. These detectors were located near
the center of the nylon cylinder and had an area of 1 cm2, a
resistivity of 4000 ohm/cm, and were biased at 60 volts. The
coincidence circuit triggered on any gamma pulse with a
rise time less than 2  106 s, a flux rate greater than 2 
104 rad/s, and gamma ray energy approximately 1 MeV.
[63] Acknowledgments. This work was supported by the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) under contract DTRA01-99-C-0035.
The author wishes to thank Kenneth Schwartz of DTRA and Bernard Roth
of Mission Research Corporation for their support and encouragement in
this data analysis effort. A large amount of credit is due to the DASA
Scientific Organization and the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland
AFB, NM for their support of Project 6.7 during the Johnston Island
operations. As principal investigator for the development of the rocket
payloads and conduct of their flight, the author is indebted to Robert Bland,
Edward Breen, Robert Reynolds, Warren Simmons, and Thom Yium for
their assistance in designing, building, and field operations of this experiment. I also thank two anonymous reviewers for very valuable comments
on this paper.
[64] Zuyin Pu thanks James Van Allen and John Cladis for their
assistance in evaluating this paper.

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