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Project GNOME was part of Operation Nougat, a 45-test series conducted at the Nevada Test Site from September 15, 1961 through June 30, 1962, except for the GNOME test. The 3-kiloton GNOME test was detonated 1200 feet underground in a salt bed formation on December 10, 1961, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. There were 48 subsurface experiments involved, making GNOME the most heavily instrumented seismic nuclear test in history. This testing provided valuable data for both the Plowshare and Vela Uniform Programs.

GNOME was the first nuclear test in the Plowshare Program. The Plowshare Program objectives were to determine how energy produced from nuclear explosions could be used for peaceful or civilian purposes. The Vela Uniform Program studied seismic detection, identification, and location of nuclear explosions. Studies were conducted underground with ground-based instruments for detecting explosions in outer space and with established satellite-based instruments for detecting explosions in outer space.

Although GNOME was a Plowshare test, the Vela Uniform objective was to determine how the signals and effects of a 3-kiloton device detonated underground in salt beds differed from the outputs of detonations of different yields in other geologic formations such as tuff and granite. Scientists also wanted to compare the seismic signals from underground tests with that of earthquakes.

This video contains footage different from that shown in video number 0800028, and includes an introduction by Dr. Edward Teller, one of the few times he was captured on film. Several longrange and close-up views of surface effects from the detonation are shown as well as people
reentering the detonation cavity approximately 6 months after the test when the underground cavity was opened to both official observers and members of the press. No other Operation Nougat footage is shown in this video.

0800034 - PROJECT GNOME 1961 Color 29:13