Trinity Site: 1945-1995.: A National Historic Landmark, White Sands Missile Range, New MexicoWhite Sands Missile Range (N.M.). Public Affairs Office
History
Trinity Site: 1945-1995.: A National Historic Landmark, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
White Sands Missile Range (N.M.). Public Affairs Office
Atomic bomb -- New Mexico -- Los Alamos -- Testing -- History; Manhattan Project (U.S.)
Trinity Site, where the world's first atomic bomb was exploded in
1945, is normally open to the public twice a year--on the first
Saturday in April and October.
Trinity is located on the northern end of the 3,200-square-mile White
Sands Missile Range, N.M., between the towns of Carrizozo and Socorro,
N.M. There are two ways of entering the restricted missile range on
tour days.
Visitors can enter through the range's Stallion Range Center which is
five miles south of Highway 380. The turnoff is 12 miles east of San
Antonio, N.M., and 53 miles west of Carrizozo, N.M. The Stallion
gate will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors arriving at the gate
between those hours will receive handouts and will be allowed to drive
unescorted the 17 miles to Trinity Site. The road is paved and
marked.
The other way of entering the missile range is by travelling with a
caravan sponsored by the Alamogordo (N.M.) Chamber of Commerce. The
caravan forms at the Otero County Fairgrounds in Alamogordo and leaves
at 8 a.m. Visitors entering this way will travel as an escorted group
with military police to and from Trinity Site. The drive is 170 miles
round trip. There are no service station facilities on the missile
range. The caravan is scheduled to leave Trinity Site at 12:30 p.m.
for the return to Alamogordo. The caravan may leave later if there is
a large number of vehicles in the returning caravan.
In 1995, an additional open house will be conducted on July 16, the
50th anniversary of the Trinity test. Visitors may enter the missile
range through the Stallion Range Center gate from 5 to 11 a.m. There
will be no caravan leaving from Alamogordo, N.M., for this event. The
early hours will allow visitors to be on-site at 5:29:45 a.m., the
time the Trinity Site detonation occurred, and should help visitors
avoid the 100-plus degree afternoon temperatures common here in July.
Included on the Trinity Site tour is Ground Zero where the atomic bomb
was placed on a 100-foot steel tower and exploded on July 16, 1945. A
small monument now marks the spot. Visitors also see the McDonald
ranch house where the world's first plutonium core for a bomb was
assembled. The missile range provides historical photographs and a
Fat Man bomb casing for display. There are no ceremonies or speakers.
Portable toilet facilities are available on site. Hot dogs and sodas
are sold at the parking lot. Cameras are allowed at Trinity Site, but
their use is strictly prohibited anywhere else on White Sands Missile
Range.
For more information, contact the White Sands Missile Range Public
Affairs Office at (505) 678-1134/1700.
Trinity Site National Historic Landmark
Trinity Site is where the first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m.
Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945. The 19 kiloton explosion not only
led to a quick end to the war in the Pacific but also ushered the
world into the atomic age. All life on Earth has been touched by the
event which took place here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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