During the Cold War, it wasn't hard to determine who could have
been behind an airborne nuclear strike—just check behind the
Iron Curtain. But in the modern era of nuclear proliferation,
figuring out who set off a bomb would be more akin to crime
scene investigation. Say a nuclear missile is launched somewhere
in the world. To learn its origins, authorities would first need
to collect airborne fallout samples from multiple altitudes. But
doing so would also expose pilots to dangerous amounts of
radiation. That's why Sandia National Labs has developed a way
to make a drone do it—a new UAV-mounted radioactive fallout
collection system can gather up the isotopes without a risk to
any human pilots. Dubbed the Harvester, this airborne
particulate collection system is comprised of three nine-foot,
650-pound sampling pods, and some additional analysis hardware,
mounted to the underside of an MQ-9 Reaper. Two pods do the
active sampling, while the third hones in on the fallout's
source by tracking the gamma radiation