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Only a few pieces of the green trinitite remain in a protected enclosure. A slightly depressed area several hundred yards across surrounds the monument, indicating where the blast scoured the ground. Ground zero is marked by an obelisk made of black lava rock, with an attached commemorative sign. Hydrogen bombs may also be called thermonuclear weapons. The Trinity Site is now part of the White Sands Missile Range and is owned by the Department of Defense. A hydrogen bomb or H-bomb is a type of nuclear weapon that explodes from the intense energy released by nuclear fusion. military and it marked the start of the Atomic Age. The success of the Trinity test meant an atomic bomb could be used by the U.S. When he radioed Albuquerque Air Traffic Control for an explanation, he was simply told, “Don’t fly south.” After the test, the Alamogordo Air Base issued a press release that stated simply, “A remotely located ammunition magazine containing a considerable amount of high explosives and pyrotechnics exploded, but there was no loss of life or limb to anyone.” The actual cause of the blast was not disclosed until after the U.S. Navy pilot flying at 10,000 feet near Albuquerque, New Mexico, said it lit up the cockpit of his plane and was like the sun rising in the south. An individual 150 miles north said the explosion “lighted up the sky like the sun.”Ī U.S. The worlds first nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos.
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A forest ranger 150 miles west of the blast said he saw a flash of fire, an explosion and black smoke. Reports from witnesses came from as far as 200 miles away.
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Hoisted atop a 100-foot tower, a plutonium device, called "Gadget," detonated at precisely 5:30 am over the New Mexico desert, releasing 18.6 kilotons of power, instantly vaporizing the tower and turning the surrounding asphalt and sand into green glass, called "trinitite." Seconds after the explosion, an enormous blast sent searing heat across the desert, knocking observers to the ground.
ATOMIC BOMB EXPLOSION CODE
The code name for the test was "Trinity." The world's first nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, known as the Jornada del Muerto. The world's first nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, during the Trinity test.
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