Trinity Site: 1945-1995.
Page: 3

50th anniversary of the Trinity test. Visitors may enter the missile
range through the Stallion Range Center gate from 5 to 11 a.m. There
will be no caravan leaving from Alamogordo, N.M., for this event. The
early hours will allow visitors to be on-site at 5:29:45 a.m., the
time the Trinity Site detonation occurred, and should help visitors
avoid the 100-plus degree afternoon temperatures common here in July.

Included on the Trinity Site tour is Ground Zero where the atomic bomb
was placed on a 100-foot steel tower and exploded on July 16, 1945. A
small monument now marks the spot. Visitors also see the McDonald
ranch house where the world's first plutonium core for a bomb was
assembled. The missile range provides historical photographs and a
Fat Man bomb casing for display. There are no ceremonies or speakers.

Portable toilet facilities are available on site. Hot dogs and sodas
are sold at the parking lot. Cameras are allowed at Trinity Site, but
their use is strictly prohibited anywhere else on White Sands Missile
Range.

For more information, contact the White Sands Missile Range Public
Affairs Office at (505) 678-1134/1700.



Trinity Site National Historic Landmark


Trinity Site is where the first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m.
Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945. The 19 kiloton explosion not only
led to a quick end to the war in the Pacific but also ushered the
world into the atomic age. All life on Earth has been touched by the
event which took place here.

The 51,500-acre area was declared a national historic landmark in
1975. The landmark includes base camp, where the scientists and
support group lived; ground zero, where the bomb was placed for the
explosion; and the McDonald ranch house, where the plutonium core to
the bomb was assembled. On your visit to Trinity Site you will be
able to see ground zero and the McDonald ranch house. In addition, on
your drive into the Trinity Site area you will pass one of the old
instrumentation bunkers which is beside the road just west of ground
zero.



The Manhattan Project


The story of Trinity Site begins with the formation of the Manhattan