Trintity Test Site
Visited
2015.10.03
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
At 5:29:45 AM on July 16th, 1945, the world entered the atomic age with the test detonation of “The Gadget” at a location near the northern boundary of what is now White Sands Missile Range, referred to as the “Trinity Site.” This was project Trinity, the world’s first detonation of an atomic weapon.
The site is open twice a year to visitors. A stone monument marks Ground Zero. At this point, radiation levels are low — the maximum levels only 10 times greater than the region’s natural background radiation. From the test site, a bus takes visitors to the McDonald ranch house, where the plutonium core was assembled.
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Waiting at the gates to get in.
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The remains of Jumbo, which was designed to contain the Gadget, but was instead suspended from a tower during the test.
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The marker at Ground Zero.
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Proof that I've stood where a nuclear bomb went off.
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Trinitite, the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the nuclear bomb test.
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More trinitite.
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My idea of a good time.
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Down the road via bus, the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House, where the plutonium core was assembled.
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A special shoulder patch given to enlisted men assigned to the Manhattan Engineer District. The blue field represents the universe, a small Army Service Force Star signifies command and a question mark in white surrounding the ASF Star indicates the secrecy that cloaked the project. The tail of the question mark becomes a lightening strike, hitting and splitting an atom.
