Atomic Bomb Site Visit

On July 16, 1945 the first test of the Atomic Bomb was conducted in the southern New Mexico desert. The result of this test was the start of the Nuclear Age and the beginning of the end of World War II. Located on White Sands Missile Range, the site is open to visitors only for a few hours each year. Saturday, April 4th we are leaving at 8-8:30 from Rio Rancho/Albuquerque and will enter the range thru Stallion Gate. To obtain a visitor pass for the few hours, you will need current ID, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.. After visiting ground zero known as the Trinity Site we will go to the ranch house where the device was assembled. The Range visit will close at 3:30. We expect to stop by the Owl Cafe where the scientists and technicians would stop for eats when working on the device. Anyone wanting to take a look at this unique piece of history, please join us on this drive. Give me a shout if you do.

Wish I was close enough to make that trip with you, Ray. That's indeed a piece of history that changed the world, and there are some amazing stories that have come out about the men and women who were involved. Looking forward to a follow up report!

Interesting Day! The first photo is at the stone monument marking Ground Zero of the first Atomic Bomb Explosion in the world. The Second is of the Fat Man Bomb Casing. This was the first time the Trinity Site at White Sands Missile Range has been open to the general public. In years past, it was controlled by hard to get reservations and open only one day a year. When we turned off the highway at Stallion Gate, we came to a stop within feet. In front of us was a solid line of cars reaching 5 miles to the pass gate. It took us an hour and a half to get to that gate and then was in constant traffic for the next 17 miles to the bomb site. During our sit and wait time, we calculated that about 2,000 cars per hour were being processed and while we don't know the total, estimated between 8,000 to 10,000 cars were there for the few hours it was open. For the Greybeards who have traveled across New Mexico to the roadster show, you remember going through Gallup NM at the Arizona border. When this bomb was detonated, residents hundreds of miles away in Gallup heard such a loud explosion that they thought a weapons bunker at nearby Fort Wingate had exploded and sent the local fire department to that base to help control the disaster. Imagine that! Overall a good day, we visited ground zero and the ranch house where the device was assembled. It was also interesting to me to watch the crowd. Several retired folks, but lots of families with kids and many young couples in their 20's. Almost everyone looked like they could have come from the southwest area, no big groups of people from other countries like you usually see at National Parks. Refreshing to me that the younger people were very interested in the history. Excellent trip.

Another unusual fact. The bomb was at the top of a tower to simulate an air dropped explosion. You would think it would have dug out a crater in the ground but that did not happen. The air between the bomb and the ground acted as a cushion and was slammed against the ground and did depress the desert floor down in a crater shape 8 feet down. The sand was pressurized and heated into a green glass lining the whole pit with the glass. To give you an idea of the size of the pit, look at the people in the background of the monument picture, they are at the edge of the pressure formed crater. The diameter would be twice that. There is a bunker with a window that looks down 8 feet to view the glass. The crater has been back filled with sand for safety but that still did not stop some visitors from looking at the fill sure they would find some of the glass.