Trinity Atomic test site

[countrykids]

If you have stopped at the Trinity bomb site at White Sands during one of it’s two annual open access days, was it worth the stop? I understand the historical importance of what happened there but from from posted videos there doesn’t appear to be a lot to see.

Your thoughts please.

[Williebago]

No, you don't go for scenic beauty. You go for the few displays, the nearby old ranch house, and to reflect on the sobering thought of what happened that summer of 1945 at that site. It is somewhat disturbing to think that mankind now has at its finger tips the power to destroy life on earth as we know it.
However, the same day the Trinity site is open for visitation, you can visit it in the morning and drive about an hour to the Very Large Array radio telescope and do more than just the regular tour. On those two days you get to also tour the control building, visit with the operators as they work in the control room and look thru glass into the inner workings of the special super computer mainframe room specifically designed handle and compile the massive amounts of data collected by the radio telescope.
It makes for a very interesting day as one reflects on just how small and fragile our island Earth really is.

[timandsusan]

I recommend Los Alamos and its Museum that is very well done. I have to admit that my Grand Father worked at the Labs in the 40's to the late 50's and I have been going since I was 3 in 1950. It is still a really neat town with lots of history.

[Y-Guy]

If you have the time and or chance visit the other end of it all, Hanford, WA Site - Manhattan Project National Historical Site

[frizzen]

vjstangelo wrote:
I would go to the nearby Very Large Array, think the movie Contact. The drive is beautiful as is the location.

And the Bosque del Apache wildlife sanctuary. Its on I 25 just south of 380

[vjstangelo]

I would go to the nearby Very Large Array, think the movie Contact. The drive is beautiful as is the location.

[GordonThree]

To truly see it all, don't forget Argonne National Labs where the Manhattan Project was born, where it all began. Very nice tour.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Also strongly recommend visiting the White Sands Missile Test Range Museum on the opposite side of the valley from Alamogordo at the US Army Base. Don’t let the oppressive looking Security bother you. The guards at the base gate know how to get you to the very interesting (to me) museum.

I would definitely go to Trinity if the timing worked out. I have visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Bikini Atoll when I was in the Navy.

[pigman1]

If you want to see it all, visit The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History on Albuquerque, the Los Alamos site where the design and building of the bombs occurred and the White Sands site where it was proved it worked. All tell the same story but from a different aspect. I'd recommend seeing all three.

[rbtglove]

Was stationed at Holloman back in the early 60s. Had a White Sands Range Badge and visited the Trinity Site several times. There was plenty of the green glass in a big sallow crater still there. It is an element found no place else we were told. There was a huge iron tube that was supposed capture the uranium if the HE went off but the reaction didn't. It was still there because it was so heavy they couldn't lift it to the top of the tower the bomb set on. The metal tower was gone only a few twisted pieces of metal remained. The museum in Alamagordo is very good and has a lot of the history. White Sands is worth visiting.

[NRALIFR]

I thought it was awsome when we visited about two years ago. We actually visited the museum between Alamogordo and Las Cruces first, and realized that the Trinity site would be open in just a few days so we made plans to see it too.

Check out the trip report I put together before you make up your mind.

Trip Report: The Wild, Wild West

We did more than just WSMR on that trip so if you want to jump in at that point, use this link.

WSMR Museum and Trinity Site

:):)

[magnusfide]

Double ditto on the space center. Much more interesting.

[GordonThree]

If you have the time, head the opposite direction and visit Los Alamos. You can actually drive through security and through the lab area, marveling at all the nondescript "Tech Areas" with guard towers and concertina wire topped roof-lines. I got a kick out of the security guard's instructions, no stopping and don't turn off to any buildings.

The museum outside the lab is real neat, and I think there's a public library inside the lab you can make arrangements to visit - didn't find out about that until after I left.

[gbopp]

I have never been to the site. But, I would like to go for the historical aspect.
If it's something that interests you, go visit the site. Then you can cross it off your list.
You won't know if it's worth it to you until you see it for yourself.

[agesilaus]

They covered up almost all the original surface by bulldozing dirt over it. The Trinitite atomic glass was the big attraction for a lot of people. That's gone so all you have is a big open field.