Word: thermonuclear
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...missile and an "inhabited" spaceship or satellite. But the missiles, nevertheless, are excellent instruments of approach. Their rocket motors, thin-skinned tanks, delicate guidance systems, etc. can also be used for hitting the moon with a charge of flash powder. This is considered less difficult than boosting a heavy thermonuclear warhead-to a city-sized target 5,000 miles away, and some Air Force groups think that it would be worth doing as a demonstration of U.S. spacemanship. It is probable, however, that space flight will develop through halfway points other than moon shooting for propaganda...
Bomb to Bone. The Columbia men did more than analyze bones; they also traced the path of strontium 90 from the nuclear reaction to the human body. Most of it was produced by the biggest thermonuclear explosions, U.S. and Soviet, and most of it rose high into the stratosphere. The particles are so small that they fall very slowly until they reach the lower atmosphere. Then rain washes them quickly down to the surface. This process takes time; strontium 90 is now spread all over the earth, with somewhat less in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere...
...Neumann played a vital part in the wartime atom-bomb project. After the war he continued to advise the Government on high-level scientific problems, including thermonuclear weapons and guided missiles. In 1955 he became a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. His advice was instrumental in convincing the Department of Defense that a high-yield thermonuclear warhead could be made light enough to be carried across an ocean by a ballistic missile of practicable size. This thermonuclear breakthrough now dominates the thinking of the U.S. (and probably of the U.S.S.R.) about strategic warfare...
...Neumann lived in an age of warlike science, but not all of his practical work was concerned with war. He made key contributions to the mathematics of giant computing machines, and although computers using his theories are essential for designing thermonuclear weapons, they also have such important peacetime functions as forecasting the weather and controlling the operation of oil refineries...
...catalyzed fusion could be made practical, it would have advantages over known methods of releasing nuclear energy. It would not require expensive fuel, as uranium fission does, and it would not create dangerously radioactive fission products. It would not need excessively high temperature, as thermonuclear (H-bomb) reactions do. It might burn peacefully, almost like an old-fashioned fire of chemical fuel...