{"id":5284,"date":"2023-07-12T08:46:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T12:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/?p=5284"},"modified":"2023-07-15T15:17:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T19:17:13","slug":"miss-atomic-bomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/excellent\/miss-atomic-bomb\/","title":{"rendered":"Miss Atomic Bomb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of them looked like Miss Atomic Bomb above. These were simpler times \ud83e\udd23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Replica of the Gadget at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The pathway to our understanding of the universe was led by the brightest minds of their time. These are my heroes. The world we live in now would not exist without them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After stars formed in the early universe, things really got interesting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Atomic energy quickly became part of our culture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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El Pinto in northwest Albuquerque<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Petroglyph National Monument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u2068Boca Negra Canyon at Petroglyph National Monument\u2069. The petroglyphs are estimated to be between 300 and 700 years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Boca Negra Trail with over 100 petroglyphs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Freeway Dash<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On my way back from my exploration of the petroglyphs, I saw a most interesting sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was clear from the moment I got here that Albuquerque is a dangerous place\u2014lots of barred windows and gated communities. The RV park has an all-night security guard and a closed gate after hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes – a dangerous place indeed. And apparently full of idiots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Stunning \ud83e\udd29 re-creation of the labs that were used in the development of the Gadget. This involved verifying the predictions of the critical mass required to start an uncontrolled fission chain reaction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I was in tears when I entered the room showing the experiments the scientists did to verify their research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Device for measuring neutron flux density of the core<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Device used to determine critical mass<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Replica of the internal assembly of the Gadget<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Replica of the internal assembly of the Gadget<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Critical mass experiment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Critical mass experiment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Calculator used to calculate very large numbers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

From here, there was a large collection of exhibits leading up to Hiroshima, including a B29 Bomber used to drop the bomb.<\/p>\n\n\n

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B29 Bomber similar to the ones used to drop the two bombs on Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A series of exhibits and displays discussed the cold war and the numerous ingenious ways we had to ensure Mutual Assured Destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n

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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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These would be on dollies out in the corridors of my building. I would walk by them on the way to lunch \ud83e\udd23!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Display of what’s commonly referred to as the Nuclear Football – the machine that would authorize the launch of nuclear weapons by the President. The latest in the lower right was from the 1990s and featured a Compaq computer laptop \ud83d\ude33.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Atomic Pop Culture! We visited Arco earlier in this trip with a visit to the EBR-I reactor museum there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pure Uranium cube 2 inches square and weighs 5 pounds. Over 600 of these were built by Nazi Scientists in 1945<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Heisenberg’s Uranium Machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Display on the Thorium fuel cycle for power generation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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<\/a>, which had built a similar design reactor at Fort St Vrain<\/a> in Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Matador Flying Rocket<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Dad’s Career 1951-1992. He worked on the Matador after leaving the Air Force in 1953.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Eddie – Just This Geek – You Know \ud83d\ude0e.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The rest of the day was spent either heating up in the hot tub or cooling down from the 100+ F weather!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u2068Albuquerque\u2069 KOA – Winner of the Best Hot Tub category for Excellent Adventure 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The next day we left early for the final stage of the Miss Atomic Bomb tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trinity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Trinity Site is located here<\/a>. 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. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Historic Marker for Trinity Site 18 miles southeast of this location. It is closed except for two days a year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Not today.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Trinity and Me<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
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<\/p>\nGordon Sumner aka Sting<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc7d<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \ud83e\udd23. … Continue reading “Miss Atomic Bomb”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5468,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[100,75],"class_list":["post-5284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-excellent","tag-geek","tag-new-mexico"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Miss-Atomic-Bomb.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5284"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5365,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5284\/revisions\/5365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}