Hundreds of years ago, in this area, the native peoples drew symbols on the rocks inspired by their understanding of the natural world around them. Some of these symbols survived; you can see them in a National Park outside of Albuquerque.
None of them looked like Miss Atomic Bomb above. These were simpler times 🤣.
In the 1950s, when my Dad was testing rockets in Alamogordo, something far more interesting was happening in Los Alamos to the north of Albuquerque.
A decade earlier, the most important device in all the history of bipedal apes with big craniums was built and successfully tested. It was called the Gadget. It was tested at a site called Trinity, about 100 miles south of here.
The successful test of the first Atomic Bomb in 1945 changed everything. It was the culmination of an evolution of the understanding of our Universe unparalleled to that point. Our new understanding of the natural world around us.
One hundred years earlier, scientists could not even agree on what matter was. They thought there must be a luminiferous aether that light travels through. One hundred years later, scientists now were beginning to understand the star stuff. We cracked the code, so to speak.
It was a boomtown in Albuquerque! Events that followed that test put the town front and center in the race to exploit our understanding. Sandia National Laboratories and nearby Kirtland AFB were front and center of the development of nuclear weapons. Research and development were being done on the peaceful uses of atomic energy, like the EBR-I reactor I visited earlier on the trip.
The Atomic Bomb quickly became part of Americana, as evidenced by Miss Atomic Bomb and some of the toys available at that time. It meshed nicely with the Space Race and the environment I grew up in. No wonder it appeals so much to me.
Dave told me that he ate at a restaurant called El Pinto when he was once visiting on business. I tried it – it was killer good, and the setting was very unique. They have a factory next door where they make salsa.
Petroglyph National Monument
I left early by myself to explore the petroglyphs. They allowed dogs but only on certain parts of the trails, excluding the petroglyphs. I decided to go to Boca Negra Canyon, out of the three different trails.
The park sits on different pieces of land in western Albuquerque. The Boca Negra Trail was in sight of a housing development! The trail consisted of concrete steps and paved surfaces that let you get right up to the rocks.
Boca Negra Trail with over 100 petroglyphs
It is estimated the petroglyphs were done primarily between 13o0 and the late 1600s by the ancestors of the Pueblo people. They were created by scraping the rock varnish off with a hammer and chisel. The feature images from nature and daily life.
The Freeway Dash
On my way back from my exploration of the petroglyphs, I saw a most interesting sight.
It was clear from the moment I got here that Albuquerque is a dangerous place—lots of barred windows and gated communities. The RV park has an all-night security guard and a closed gate after hours.
So I wasn’t all that surprised as I neared the exit to see a tall young man jump over the Interstate fence carrying two large boxes. As I sped by at 75 MPH, I looked in my rearview mirror to see him dart across five lanes of traffic carrying the boxes. He would have then had to scale another fence and cross the other five lanes of traffic in the opposite direction, scale the last fence, and make his getaway.
Yes – a dangerous place indeed. And apparently full of idiots.
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
This is one of the best museums I have been to in a long time. The exhibits were very good, and you could tell from the many sponsorship plaques in evidence a lot of money too. Their collection was unique, like the Palm Springs Air Museum I visited at the beginning of the trip.
The displays and exhibit take the viewer through the scientific minds and discoveries made that led to the testing of the Gadget. It does a remarkably good job of explaining the science.
I was in tears when I entered the room showing the experiments the scientists did to verify their research.
From here, there was a large collection of exhibits leading up to Hiroshima, including a B29 Bomber used to drop the bomb.
This included a replica of the Trinity test stand. This held the Gadget when it was tested on July 16, 1945, about 100 miles south of here.
A series of exhibits and displays discussed the cold war and the numerous ingenious ways we had to ensure Mutual Assured Destruction.
Around this time in my young life, we practiced air raid drills at elementary school during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember thinking to myself, ‘What good is it going to do if I am sitting under this desk and they drop a nuke on us.’ Yes – an exciting time to be alive.
Many years later, I was working at Boeing. I had to get a security clearance because they were working on Cruise Missiles in the building our lab was located in.
There were a lot of schoolchildren at the museum. There were a number of exhibits designed for children as well as exhibits on the atomic age in popular culture.
The was a special exhibit on the Uranium Cube. This is a five-pound chunk of pure Uranium made by Nazi Scientists who then hung over 600 of them in an array to achieve a chain reaction.
Most of the cubes are unaccounted for, but very few remain and are among the amazing exhibits at this incredible museum. This experiment was located in Haigerloch, Germany, near where I lived in the late 1980s.
Another part of the museum was dedicated to the current technology of atomic energy for power production. A series of displays on the work that is being done with Thorium based reactors moderated by liquid sodium.
Nothing new here – I was very interested in doing this when I graduated from college. I tried to get a job at Gulf General Atomic, which had built a similar design reactor at Fort St Vrain in Colorado.
Outside was an extensive collection of aircraft, missiles, and other items. The Matador was a flying rocket, much like the original V2 Buzz Bomb built by the Nazis. My Dad worked on this during his time with Goodyear in Alamagordo.
I could not believe all of this was in a place like this. It touches on a lot of things that I am very interested in now and over the course of my life. I was crying at several points it touched me so. Go figure.
Eddie – Just This Geek – You Know 😎.
The rest of the day was spent either heating up in the hot tub or cooling down from the 100+ F weather!
The next day we left early for the final stage of the Miss Atomic Bomb tour.
Trinity
The Trinity Site is located here. About 100 miles or so south of Albuquerque, just south of Highway 380. There is a marker to the northeast of the site. I was told there are often protestors there, and the marker gets frequently damaged.
Not today.
How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
Gordon Sumner aka Sting
There is no monopoly on common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
Next stop – Aliens!