Rockets and Nukes Atomic Tour
By Mike Marino
The Cold War detonated with a big bang. Three of them in fact. One in Hiroshima, and one in Nagasaki, Japan, effectively ending WWII, but touching off new flashpoints defined by the race for space and atomic bomb standoffs between two super powers that made the shootout at the OK Corral seem like an ice cream social. The first detonation of a nuclear device was not on Japanese soil. In fact, it occured in the deserts of New Mexico, the southwest's Land of Enchantment, which had now become the birthplace of the nuclear age.
The U.S.was desperate to develop an atomic bomb, as the race was on. Germany was already poised on the precipice to deliver a nuclear punch, so American science and industry locked and loaded at Los Alamos, in northern New Mexico. This was to become ground zero for atomic research, and the secret lab opened it's clandestine doors to scientists in 1942. Secrecy was supreme as you can imagine, and the Los Alamos lab at the time was named, simply and mysteriously, Site Y. Real X-File stuff. The equally mysteriously named, Manhattan Project, as the research was named, was headed up by Robert Oppenheimer, and it was he who chose the site at the old Los Alamos Ranch School property.
Thousands of Site Y workers kept the worlds biggest secret as they went about their wartime business. Security was strict to say the least, and in the end, that secrecy paid off like a two dollar slot machine in Vegas. Three atomic devices were created as though they were freak Frankenstein monsters, in that, no one was really sure of just what it's destructive power was capable of. The eldest nuclear child was named "Trinity," and was the first nuclear device ever detonated. This historic duck and cover blast lit up the skies near Alamogordo on July 16, 1945. The other two, destined to be dispatched to Japan, were code named "Little Boy" and "Fat Man." Years later, the Site Y would move from fisson to fusion, producing the highly destructive nuclear Godfather, the hydrogen bomb. Remember, it was the H-bomb, and not the A-bomb that would give us the celluloid gift of Gojira, or Godzilla as it is affectionately known on the American silver screen. The Cold War has come and gone, but Los Alamos lives on and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
If you and the family are looking for a real atomic blast of fission fun and adventure, pack them up and head on down to the White Sands Missle Range area near Alamogordo and let the countdown begin by visiting the "Trinity Site," affectionately seen as the nuclear version of Meteor Crater in Arizona. You do have to plan carefully though as it is only open two days a year to the public. Tour days are the first Saturday's of the month in April and October. The area is desolate to say the least, fresh out of the 1950's "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" sci-fi chick-flick, and is the reason it was chosen in the first place. Just down the road from this atomic Grand Canyon, is the McDonald Ranch, where Trinity was actually assembled like a giant erector set before it was transported to the site. The McDonald family had their home "appropriated" by the government in typical cloak and dagger X-File fashion, so the scientists could put the finishing touches on this, at the time, most destructive device ever created. The area is still mildly radioactive, but you can have a family picnic there if that gives you a rush. Ants are the least of your problems, besides they are probably 18 feet tall!
You will run the security gauntlet to get in as it is an active military base so be prepared for that. The gate opens on the two days of the year public access is permitted at 8 a.m. and close at 2 p.m. with exact military precision. Also, be on the lookout for antelope that roam freely on the base. If you've never hit one or saw the damage they can do to a car, consider yourself lucky.
The area is covered with strange colored blue-green pebbles called "trinite." These were formed by the Trinity blast when the heat and explosion fused the desert sand into glass. Don't even think about taking one for a souvenir.They are protected and besides, being slightly radioactive you don't want your family cat to start glowing in the dark due to exposure. To get from the site to the McDonald ranch, hop aboard a shuttle bus.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist on your next stop on your rocket and nukes tour, but, the Jetsons would have had propulsion palpitations at White Sands Monument. It's a vast area of white sand dunes that resemble a herd of great white whales, and it even has it's own missle range in case you left yours at home. Dr. Robert Goddard the father of modern rocketry moved to the White Sands area in 1932 to continue testing his rocket propulsion theories. At the time that was more theory and conjecture than lift off reality. The area he chose, had wide open spaces to conduct these theoretical tests, and best of all, few if any neighbors to distract from his research. During WWII the Germans rained steel and death on London during a period of V-2 rocket assaults. Death from above and jet propelled. Werner von Braun was head of that research, but in 1945 he surrendered to the US Army and along with some of his assitants ended up working on rocket development where launches lifted off from White Sands.
Before the rocketeers, White Sands was a national monument as early as 1933. FDR had the roads and outbuildings constructed as part of the WPA which was set up to offset the economic collapse of the Depression. It later proved to be ideal as an area when top secrecy was needed for bomb tests and rocket research. The area was a natural. Captured Nazi V-2 rockets were brought here for testing at the end of WWII and today, the missles still roam the wide open skies, riding the rocket range on occasion but the monument area is a biking and hiking paradise. The monument area has three separate picnic areas with grills, hiking trails and boardwalks, and even a rustic bare bones primitive campsite for a mere three bucks a head. You can also drive the Dunes Road as it winds through the monument area, with the mounds of white sand on either side of the road makes you think you driving through monster snow banks in the heart of a Minnesota winter. Biking through this dreamscape is like nothing you've ever experienced, and twice a year you can hook up with one of their Moonlight Rides through this vast lunar landscape here on earth. Scooby Doo may hang ten when the surfs up in California, but fear not. You can buy a boogie sand board at the visitor center and go extreme sand boarding, well, at least White Sands style extreme. Think toboggan runs in the Midwest.
The visitor center is your first stop for information and souvenirs so load up there as the rocks, flora and sand of the monument is off limits. One thing to be aware of is the fact that they still do missle testing on the range. On those occasions the Dunes Road may be closed for a few hours while the testing goes on so you may want to call ahead so you don't get lost in space on the road waiting for the rockets red glare. At White Sands, you'll find an outdoor paradise and the gateway to outer space all at the same time. By the way, all you Transformers fans. White Sands was used in the flick in the Qatar desert sequence.
Radio telescopes beaming signals to other worlds for close encounters are far out but not far away at the Very Large Array. The VLA as it is known, is about 50 miles from Socorro (which also has a remnant of the casing used for the Trinity test. It's on a concrete perch in the small park downtown adjacent to a wonderful area of shopping, eating and yes, saloons!) The VLA is a radio astronomy observatory located between the towns of Magdalna and Datil on Route 60 and is a hefty 6,970 feet above sea level reaching for the stars.The observatory has 27 antennas with a dish diameter of 62 feet. They can be moved for different configurations.Think "Close Encounters" and you'll get the picture.
St. Louis has the Gateway Arch to signify it's position as Gateway to the West. Well, New Mexico is going one stratospheric step further pardner, when the new Spaceport opens to the general public. . Beam aboard and you'll be able to go where no terrestrial tourist has gone before - Space..the final frontier. Located near Las Cruces, it's the brainchild of Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic airlines and balloon hobbyist. Test rockets have been launched and soon, rocketeers from Duluth to Fargo will get lost in the thrill of space travel as New Mexico gets a front row seat to the future of tourism.
New Mexico and it's deserts are enchanting, and full of mystical karma and magic. They also radiate with an atomic blast past and are now on the threshold of a galactic future of exploration of strange cosmos. Karma and cosmos. No matter what you choose, New Mexico's deserts are the portals to atomic adventure and for those who wish to get away from it all by getting lost in space.
To find out more about White Sands Mounument visit their website at http://www.nps.gov/whsa. For more information on the Very Large Array you can go online at http://www.vla.nrao.edu.The Trinity Site can be checked out online at www.wsmr.army.mil
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