Dating to 1946, this silent, raw footage shows preparations underway to document the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests using drone B-17 aircraft. The Enewetak Atoll, home base for the drone operations, is seen at 1:35 from the air, with various views of the area that would be used for the later Operation Sandstone tests. At 6:30, drone B-17 aircraft are seen. These were equipped with radio controls and television cameras so that they could be flown remotely through the atomic cloud to obtain test data. At 11:36, a slate is seen “Operator monitoring for paper recorder mother ship” — the mother ship in this case is the aircraft from which the drone was flown. Practice landings are seen at 12:00.

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