National Geographic Documentaries

World's Biggest Bomb (2011x83)

Date de diffusion: Juil 12, 2011

It was the ultimate display of mankind's destructive power - an earth-shattering explosion 2,500 times more powerful than the deadly bomb that annihilated Hiroshima and helped bring an end to the Second World War. Discover how one of the world's superpowers created and denoted an earth shattering explosion that shook this planet in the World's Biggest Bomb. World's Biggest Bomb combines first-hand testimony with in-depth forensic analysis and once classified rare footage of the 1954 USA Bikini Atoll explosion, to reveal how Cold War rivalry inspired an unprecedented acceleration in ammunitions technology, as US and Soviet bomb makers competed with each other to build the ultimate weapon. As both superpowers took ever-greater risks to get ahead, scientific know-how was stretched to its limits, leaving no one in control of the shocking devastation about to rock the planet. When the Soviets blasted their way into history in 1961, scientists worldwide were stunned. What caused this dramatic surge in explosive power? And why were weapons' experts unable to predict the dreadful outcome of their work? With the shockwaves from this extraordinary chapter in modern history still being felt across the globe, World's Biggest Bomb analyses the immediate and long-term impact of the world's biggest bomb - and its enduring political relevance in our increasingly volatile world.