NEVADA TEST SITE
Kepler, a Los Alamos Laboratory designed experimental device, was fired at 4:50 a.m. today as the ninth full scale detonation in the series. It was fired from a 500-foot tower in a Yucca Flat test area.
Kepler, earlier was scheduled as the 10th shot, but its precedence over the Owens shot, which has been ready since July 17, made it the ninth detonation. There were 35 experiments on the sequence timer, 10 civil effects, and 10 military experiments.
Civil effects tests included a continuation of a previously-conducted manned shelter exercise with 18 members of the Civil Effects Test Group and the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory experiencing the detonation in an underground shelter four and three-quarters miles from ground zero. They have reported that all personnel are safe, and that they will proceed with phase one, the taking of radiation readings from inside the shelter. There are no plans this time to conduct a later decontamination exercise.
Previously-announced plans for the placing of a U.S. Navy blimp in the general firing area to obtain blast data did not materialize. There was not sufficient time to get the air ship into position from its temporary base at Santa Ana, Calif., after the decision to fire Kepler was made last evening. The experiment will be conducted on Shasta.
Thirty-one FDCA - invited observers from 10 foreign nations observed the shot together with a group of Civil Defense observers.
Eight hundred military observers watched the blast from trenches at a distance of 3,000 yards. Brig. Gen. Walter A. Jensen, Camp Desert Rock commander, has received a report that there were no casualties or untoward incidents in the trenches.
The main portion of the cloud rose rapidly to 27,000 feet with the upper layers being blown slowly to the east-northeast and the lower layers being blown west-northwest. The lower portion of the cloud formed a "U" shape and his moving slowly toward the northwest.
The shock wave was felt and heard sharply at the Control Point and observer areas. The blast was heard as a rumble at Tonapah, Bishop and Inyokern. It was barely audible in St. George, Utah.
There will be a weather evaluation meeting at 4 p.m. today to determine whether the Test Organization will continue with plans to fire the Owens shot at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, July 25.