[defrost]

Pokhran-II was a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions conducted by India in May 1998, Pakistan responded with six underground nuclear tests at the Chagai and Kharan test site conducted fifteen days after India's last test.

It was all abit unexpected at the time and the US was interested to know how it came to be that Australians were present.

[albert_e]

I am sorry I am not following the connection between Pokhran-II nuclear tests and Australia. Would you mind sharing some more information or a link maybe?

[defrost]

An Australian radiometric survey team were there at the time over the area during the first detonation .. and for the rest of the series.

Things got ... interesting.

[albert_e]

Oh. and why were they there in the first place? On some scientific research field study / invited by the Indian government?

[defrost]

Ostensibly for a routine few hundred thousand line kilometres of geophysical survey in northern India for mineral exploration.

Contracted to a cutout company.

It just happened to be the first such survey in India and to coincidentally be at the exact place and time the area turned into an underground nuclear test site.

[wnkrshm]

I would hazard that there is a good bit of transmission of shock waves from below to the surface, but it's ofc attenuated by the large mismatch in density at the ground air-interface...

How badly were they hurt? Were they hurt at all?

[defrost]

The plane was buffeted, the crew were unhurt, on the day.

Their diginity took a mild beating after landing and spending a month under quasi "friendly" house arrest by Indian troops who watched them gather more data and process it, compounded by questioning from US border agents in following years in transit, and offset by the joy of watch high caste Indian Geophysicists that insisted on being in the planes vomit on every end of line turn.

( It's a gut wrenching maneuver )

Telling them the planes weren't landing and they'd have to clean up their own mess "sparked joy", I believe.

[MockObject]

It sounds like a fascinating story indeed, but I can't find anything about it after a search.

[defrost]

True story, and these days you'd probably have to go to paper copies to find quotes from senior US defence | politicians expressing surprise at tests that seemingly came out of nowhere.

I dare say somebody might write it up well after retirement for release after death.