Museum Audio Tour 44: Cold War Gallery: Nuclear Testing

DAYTON, OHIO, UNITED STATES

12.31.1969

Audio by NMUSAF PA 

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Because the USSR was such a secretive and closed society, the United States feared a rising threat from a nation they knew was developing long-range nuclear missiles and bombers. Did they have the bomb? The United States needed to know in order to be prepared. Under the guise of weather reconnaissance missions, some WB-50s were fitted with high-altitude atmospheric samplers. These samplers would gather particles from the air to see if there were any radioactive samples. This would help determine if the Soviets had detonated a nuclear weapon. The WB-50D aircraft flew these special missions with SAC's 97th Bomb Wing until April 1955, when all WB-50s went to the Air Weather Service. An example of this aircraft can be found in the Cold War Gallery beside the OSI exhibit.

• Date Taken: 12.31.1969
• Date Posted: 09.02.2015 13:51
• Category: Newscasts
• Audio ID: 41967
• Filename: 1509/DOD_102704388.mp3
• Length: 00:00:48
• Album: Museum Audio Tour
• Track #: 44
• Location: DAYTON, OHIO, US