SOCORRO, N.M. – Visitors will have an opportunity to explore the location of the world’s first atomic test when White Sands Missile Range hosts its annual Trinity Site Open House on Saturday, Oct. 17. The event is free and open to the public.
The test occurred July 16, 1945, at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain War Time. Scientists nicknamed the device “the Gadget” and detonated it atop a 100-foot steel tower rather than dropping it from an airplane. The explosion’s intense heat transformed desert material into a green, glasslike substance called trinitite.
J. Robert Oppenheimer chose the name “Trinity,” drawing inspiration from the poetry of John Donne. The test marked the beginning of the atomic age.
Visitors can walk approximately a quarter mile to Ground Zero, where an obelisk marks the test location. The monument was erected in 1965, and Trinity Site became a National Historic Landmark in 1975. Its first public open house was held in September 1953, eight years after the explosion.
Weather and road conditions permitting, visitors also can explore the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House, where scientists assembled the bomb’s plutonium core before the test.
Entry is through the Stallion Range Gate, located five miles south of U.S. Highway 380. The highway turnoff is 12 miles east of San Antonio, New Mexico.
The gate will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Trinity Site will close promptly at 3:30 p.m. Visitors should allow sufficient time to travel from the gate and explore the site.
Additional visitor information is available on the Trinity Site Open House page of the White Sands Missile Range website.
John Krehbiel – Bravo Mic Communications News, LLC – John@Bravomic.com
