Has a nuculer or hydrogen bomb ever been tested above our atmospere in space?

Question

Has a nuculer or hydrogen bomb ever been tested above our atmospere in space?

Answer 1

d**n I didn't even know they detonated one

Answer 2

Yes! And it's nuclear!

Answer 3

Yes.  The Starfish tests, which I believe were part of Project Dominic, tested whether we could blind an enemy's radar with an electromagnetic pulse generated by a nuclear explosion.  The idea is that we would detonate a series of warheads at high altitude above the target area so that an enemy's defense radar would be disabled for long enough that the warheads behind it would not be detected and would reach their targets without being intercepted.

The Starfish tests were hampered by the partial failure of some of the sensors.  The only real effects were the accidental disabling of a few satellites, some messed up radio reception in Hawaii, some pretty cool film footage, and a whole lot of electrons trapped in the upper atmosphere for a long time.

Answer 4

Yes.

There's more information at this Wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altitu...