Looking up starfish prime

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

I notice also the effect on satellites was quite severe. One third of LEO satellites where disabled by this one explosion.

>>>Nice idea. My brother saw them last year in Iceland. He has more disposable income than me so he gets to do that sort of thing :-)
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>>Back then, we had plenty of disposable income too. Now we don't even have *any* income!!! Startups are sure a drain on one's savings! <g>
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>>> I think I'll have to wait for a Carrington event.
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>>I don't think that will be much fun, if we ever have one of those! I recently finished reading an article about that in the June issue of National Geographic. It would be a pretty nasty event in our technologically dependent world!
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>I was just googling this and came across: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmdfence/1552/155205.htm#n19
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>Bit off topic but Snip:
>"33. In July 1962, the United States conducted an experiment with the detonation of a 1.4 megaton nuclear weapon (Starfish Prime) 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean, around 900 miles from Hawaii. The effect of this explosion was the generation of an electromagnetic pulse that was far larger than expected. The EMP caused damage to electrical equipment in Hawaii, knocking out streetlights, setting off fire alarms and damaging telephone equipment. There were also visible auroras in the sky following the detonation. In 1962, the Soviet Union also performed a series of three high-altitude nuclear tests in space over Kazakhstan. The weapons used were smaller than that of the US's Starfish Prime test, but the EMP effects were reportedly more significant, as the detonations occurred over a populated area. While there is little information available about these tests at least in the public domain, what there is suggests . that there was significant damage to telephone wires and power cables. "
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>I never knew they did that !