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The '''Test Readiness Program''' was a [[United States]] Government program established in
==History of the program==
===Events leading to the program===
From 1958 to 1961, as the world powers negotiated a treaty to ban all testing of nuclear weapons except underground, there was a major push in both the U.S. and the [[Soviet Union]] to complete as much development and testing of nuclear weapons as possible before such work was prohibited. Anticipating the upcoming treaty, a moratorium went into effect in 1961 halting all testing. However, in September, 1961, the Soviets broke the moratorium, performing 45 nuclear test events in two months, culminating with a 60-megaton blast on
Following the resumption of Soviet testing, President [[John F.
Once the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty|Limited Test Ban Treaty]] (LTBT) went into effect in October, 1963, there was concern within the government that it would be abrogated by the Soviets, who would then have a head-start in the resumption of weapons testing. Not wanting to be caught off-guard, the Test Readiness program was initiated, so that if the treaty was nullified, or if some other national security concern warranted the resumption of testing, the scientific infrastructure would be
==The program==
In response to the mandate, the [[U.S. Air Force]] established a special unit at [[Kirtland Air Force Base]]. [[Sandia National Laboratories]] was tasked with modifying three aircraft, designated as [[Boeing NC-135|NC135s]], to be used as flying laboratories for analyzing potential future testing, as well as designing all the telemetry that would be used. The aircraft were used by Sandia as well as the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] and the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] for the program. Test readiness practice missions were flown by the Air Force, supported by science teams from the three laboratories, sometimes in conjunction with other scientific research missions.<ref name="sandia1"/>
==Ancillary missions==
===Airborne astronomy missions===
While flying simulations for the Test Readiness Program, the science teams assigned to the NC-135 aircraft realized that their flying laboratories could be effectively used to study [[solar eclipse]]s, [[cosmic ray]]s entering the atmosphere and the effects of magnetic fields in the [[ionosphere]]. Program scientists petitioned the AEC to allow for a program-within-a-program to use the aircraft for such scientific research. The petition was approved, and research continued through 1975.<ref name="inflight">{{cite web |url=http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00285812.pdf |title=In Flight: The Story of Los Alamos Eclipse Missions |access-date=2007-03-22 |last=Mulkin |first=Barb |format=PDF |work=[[Los Alamos Science]] |publisher=Los Alamos National Laboriatories |archive-date=2022-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415193703/https://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00285812.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Edu/docs/97-Whiting_AeroHistory.pdf|title=Milestones in Airbornce Astronomy: From the 1920s to the Present|access-date=2007-03-22|last=Dolci|first=Wendy|year=1997|format=PDF|publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905193322/http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Edu/docs/97-Whiting_AeroHistory.pdf|archive-date=2006-09-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The first eclipse mission took place from [[Pago Pago]] in 1965, and flying in conjunction with several other science aircraft, one of the NC-135s managed to fly within eclipse totality for 160 seconds, providing valuable science data. Eclipse missions were also flown in 1970, 1972, 1973, 1979 and 1980.<ref name="inflight"/>
==Program ends==
By 1974, the world politics had significantly changed, and it was clear that the treaty, now over a decade old, would hold and there was little possibility of
==References==
{{
==See also==
*[[Strypi]]
[[Category:Cold War treaties]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons policy]]
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