The Trinity Site is where the first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 2013. The McDonald Ranch nearby is where the world’s first plutonium core for a bomb was assembled. The 51,500 acre area was declared a national historic landmark in 1975.
This has been on my bucket list for a long time but we never seemed to be in this area when they are open (the site only opens twice a year). So I was quite excited to be here today.
They open the site at 8:00 AM and we were waiting in line.
Watch for wildlife:
These are African Oryz and we did see a few of them coming back from the McDonald House but I did not get a chance to take a picture – :-(((.
Oh oh!!:
Actually one hour at the site has less radioactive exposure than a coast to coast commercial flight.
After we parked, we took the shuttle bus to the Schmidt/McDonald ranch. This is where the world’s first plutonium core for a bomb was assembled.
The remains of the windmill:
The barns:
The corrals:
The water tanks:
The Ranch House – it stood empty until 1982 when the Army stabilized the house to prevent any further damage. Shortly after, the Department of Energy and the Army provided the funds for the National Park Service to completely restore the house. The work was done in 1984. All efforts were directed at making the house appear as it did on July 12, 1945 when the house was used in the assembly process.
The area around the ranch:
After our visit to the Ranch, we took the shuttle back to the parking lot and then walked to Ground Zero. This is one of the first signs we saw:
Trinitite is the green glassy substance made from melted desert sand – a byproduct of the explosion. We were shown a few pieces but did not touch.
In 1952, much of the Trinitite was scaped up and buried. In 2004 members of the missile range’s Public Affairs Office began assisting Los Alamos National Lab in a fresh look at Trinitite and how it was formed.
Information on ground zero – click on picture to make larger:
Marking Ground Zero:
Shelly and Bill at Ground Zero:
Andy and I at Ground Zero:
This is an overall view of Ground Zero. The explosion did not make much of a crater. It was about four feet deep and 240 feet in diameter. Since 1945 much of the crater has filled in with sand.
This building is protecting an original portion of the crater area:
More scenes of Ground Zero:
Some links:
http://www.mensetmanus.net/trinity-site/mcdonald-ranch-house.shtml
http://www.atomictourist.com/trinity.htm
That day in 1945 started the Atomic age that we are still in today.
Afterwards we came back home, had lunch and headed out to part 2 of our day.
No comments:
Post a Comment