Cars started lining up at 6:30 am for the 8 am departure to the White Sands Missile Range. We got there at 7:30. It will be a 50 mile caravan to the Trinity Site.
White Sands Missile Range is huge, 3,200 sq miles.
Walking into the Trinity Site. Not to worry. One hour at the Trinity Site equals one half mrem of exposure. Coast to coast commercial flight equals 2 mrem.
The bomb was placed at the top of a 100 foot tower where it was detonated. It vaporized the tower. There were three observation posts 10,000 yards away. They were wooden shelters protected by concrete and earth. The shock wave broke windows 120 miles away.
Fatman bomb casing with the bomb tower monument in the background.
This is Trinitite, sand that was fused into a glassy material by the intense heat of the explosion, 14.710 degrees Fahrenheit. Hotter than the surface of the sun. It covered most of the desert floor around ground zero. In 1952 the Atomic Energy Commission let a contract to clean up the site. Much of the Trinitite was scraped up and buried, but you can still find pieces. The first open house was held in 1953.
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