v,ghmfg atom bomb was the most second largest bomb explosion ever
recorded in US history.
The Atomeri Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before
the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of
efforts in
Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build
an atomic bomb.
It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government
began the serious
undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project."
Simply put, the
Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that
would produce a
viable atomic bomb.
The most
complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was
the
production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain
reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio
of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this,
the
one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99%
uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the
task
even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are
isotopes,
nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical
extraction
method could separate them; only mechanical methods could
work.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was
constructed at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Harold Urey and his colleagues at
Columbia University devised an
extraction system that worked on the
principle of gaseous diffusion, and Ernest Lawrence (inventor of the Cyclotron) at
the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process involving
magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Next, a
gas centrifuge was used to further separate the lighter U-235 from
the
heavier, non-fissionable U-238. Once all of these procedures had been
completed, all that needed to be done was to put to the test the entire concept
behind atomic fission ("splitting the atom," in layman's
terms).
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to
1945, more than $2 billion was
spent during the history of the Manhattan
Project. The formulas for refining
uranium and putting together a working
atomic bomb were created and seen to
their logical ends by some of the
greatest minds of our time. Chief among the
people who unleashed the power
of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from
conception to completion.
Testing The Gadget aka Atomic
BombFinally, the day came when all at Los
Alamos would find out if "The
Gadget" (code-named as such during its
development) was going to be the
colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end
to the war. It all came down
to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on
July 16, 1945, in a white blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez
Mountains in northern New Mexico to the
still-dark skies, "The Gadget"
ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of the explosion then turned orange as the
atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening
and
pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor
materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of
the soil at
the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass
created by the
heat of the reaction.
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early morning skies
with such intensity that
residents from a faraway neighboring community would
swear that the sun
came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that a blind
girl saw the
flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had
mixed reactions. Isidor
Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been
upset as if humankind had
become a threat to the world it inhabited. Robert
Oppenheimer, though ecstatic
about the success of the project, quoted a
remembered fragment from the Bhagavad
Gita. "I am become Death," he said,
"the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge,
the test director, told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
After viewing the results
several participants signed petitions against
loosing the monster they had
created, but their protests fell on deaf ears. The
Jornada del Muerto of
New Mexico would not be the last site on planet Earth to
experience an
atomic explosion.
This
is how big the atom bomb's explosion was from the air
The atom bomb was the most second largest bomb explosion ever
recorded in US history.
The Atom Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before
the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of
efforts in
Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build
an atomic bomb.
It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government
began the serious
undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project."
Simply put, the
Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that
would produce a
viable atomic bomb.
The most
complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was
the
production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain
reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio
of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this,
the
one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99%
uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the
task
even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are
isotopes,
nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical
extraction
method could separate them; only mechanical methods could
work.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was
constructed at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Harold Urey and his colleagues at
Columbia University devised an
extraction system that worked on the
principle of gaseous diffusion, and Ernest Lawrence (inventor of the Cyclotron) at
the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process involving
magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Next, a
gas centrifuge was used to further separate the lighter U-235 from
the
heavier, non-fissionable U-238. Once all of these procedures had been
completed, all that needed to be done was to put to the test the entire concept
behind atomic fission ("splitting the atom," in layman's
terms).
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to
1945, more than $2 billion was
spent during the history of the Manhattan
Project. The formulas for refining
uranium and putting together a working
atomic bomb were created and seen to
their logical ends by some of the
greatest minds of our time. Chief among the
people who unleashed the power
of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from
conception to completion.
Testing The Gadget aka Atomic
BombFinally, the day came when all at Los
Alamos would find out if "The
Gadget" (code-named as such during its
development) was going to be the
colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end
to the war. It all came down
to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on
July 16, 1945, in a white blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez
Mountains in northern New Mexico to the
still-dark skies, "The Gadget"
ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of the explosion then turned orange as the
atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening
and
pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor
materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of
the soil at
the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass
created by the
heat of the reaction.
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early morning skies
with such intensity that
residents from a faraway neighboring community would
swear that the sun
came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that a blind
girl saw the
flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had
mixed reactions. Isidor
Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been
upset as if humankind had
become a threat to the world it inhabited. Robert
Oppenheimer, though ecstatic
about the success of the project, quoted a
remembered fragment from the Bhagavad
Gita. "I am become Death," he said,
"the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge,
the test director, told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
After viewing the results
several participants signed petitions against
loosing the monster they had
created, but their protests fell on deaf ears. The
Jornada del Muerto of
New Mexico would not be the last site on planet Earth to
experience an
atomic explosion.
This
is how big the atom bomb's explosion was from the air
The atom bomb was the most second largest bomb explosion ever
recorded in US history.
The Atom Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before
the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of
efforts in
Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build
an atomic bomb.
It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government
began the serious
undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project."
Simply put, the
Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that
would produce a
viable atomic bomb.
The most
complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was
the
production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain
reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio
of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this,
the
one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99%
uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the
task
even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are
isotopes,
nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical
extraction
method could separate them; only mechanical methods could
work.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was
constructed at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Harold Urey and his colleagues at
Columbia University devised an
extraction system that worked on the
principle of gaseous diffusion, and Ernest Lawrence (inventor of the Cyclotron) at
the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process involving
magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Next, a
gas centrifuge was used to further separate the lighter U-235 from
the
heavier, non-fissionable U-238. Once all of these procedures had been
completed, all that needed to be done was to put to the test the entire concept
behind atomic fission ("splitting the atom," in layman's
terms).
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to
1945, more than $2 billion was
spent during the history of the Manhattan
Project. The formulas for refining
uranium and putting together a working
atomic bomb were created and seen to
their logical ends by some of the
greatest minds of our time. Chief among the
people who unleashed the power
of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from
conception to completion.
Testing The Gadget aka Atomic
BombFinally, the day came when all at Los
Alamos would find out if "The
Gadget" (code-named as such during its
development) was going to be the
colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end
to the war. It all came down
to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on
July 16, 1945, in a white blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez
Mountains in northern New Mexico to the
still-dark skies, "The Gadget"
ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of the explosion then turned orange as the
atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening
and
pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor
materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of
the soil at
the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass
created by the
heat of the reaction.
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early morning skies
with such intensity that
residents from a faraway neighboring community would
swear that the sun
came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that a blind
girl saw the
flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had
mixed reactions. Isidor
Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been
upset as if humankind had
become a threat to the world it inhabited. Robert
Oppenheimer, though ecstatic
about the success of the project, quoted a
remembered fragment from the Bhagavad
Gita. "I am become Death," he said,
"the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge,
the test director, told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
After viewing the results
several participants signed petitions against
loosing the monster they had
created, but their protests fell on deaf ears. The
Jornada del Muerto of
New Mexico would not be the last site on planet Earth to
experience an
atomic explosion.
This
is how big the atom bomb's explosion was from the air
Photos
used under Creative Commons
Photos
used under Creative Commons
Photos
used under Creative Commons
recorded in US history.
The Atomeri Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before
the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of
efforts in
Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build
an atomic bomb.
It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government
began the serious
undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project."
Simply put, the
Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that
would produce a
viable atomic bomb.
The most
complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was
the
production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain
reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio
of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this,
the
one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99%
uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the
task
even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are
isotopes,
nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical
extraction
method could separate them; only mechanical methods could
work.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was
constructed at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Harold Urey and his colleagues at
Columbia University devised an
extraction system that worked on the
principle of gaseous diffusion, and Ernest Lawrence (inventor of the Cyclotron) at
the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process involving
magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Next, a
gas centrifuge was used to further separate the lighter U-235 from
the
heavier, non-fissionable U-238. Once all of these procedures had been
completed, all that needed to be done was to put to the test the entire concept
behind atomic fission ("splitting the atom," in layman's
terms).
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to
1945, more than $2 billion was
spent during the history of the Manhattan
Project. The formulas for refining
uranium and putting together a working
atomic bomb were created and seen to
their logical ends by some of the
greatest minds of our time. Chief among the
people who unleashed the power
of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from
conception to completion.
Testing The Gadget aka Atomic
BombFinally, the day came when all at Los
Alamos would find out if "The
Gadget" (code-named as such during its
development) was going to be the
colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end
to the war. It all came down
to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on
July 16, 1945, in a white blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez
Mountains in northern New Mexico to the
still-dark skies, "The Gadget"
ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of the explosion then turned orange as the
atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening
and
pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor
materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of
the soil at
the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass
created by the
heat of the reaction.
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early morning skies
with such intensity that
residents from a faraway neighboring community would
swear that the sun
came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that a blind
girl saw the
flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had
mixed reactions. Isidor
Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been
upset as if humankind had
become a threat to the world it inhabited. Robert
Oppenheimer, though ecstatic
about the success of the project, quoted a
remembered fragment from the Bhagavad
Gita. "I am become Death," he said,
"the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge,
the test director, told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
After viewing the results
several participants signed petitions against
loosing the monster they had
created, but their protests fell on deaf ears. The
Jornada del Muerto of
New Mexico would not be the last site on planet Earth to
experience an
atomic explosion.
This
is how big the atom bomb's explosion was from the air
The atom bomb was the most second largest bomb explosion ever
recorded in US history.
The Atom Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before
the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of
efforts in
Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build
an atomic bomb.
It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government
began the serious
undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project."
Simply put, the
Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that
would produce a
viable atomic bomb.
The most
complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was
the
production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain
reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio
of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this,
the
one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99%
uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the
task
even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are
isotopes,
nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical
extraction
method could separate them; only mechanical methods could
work.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was
constructed at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Harold Urey and his colleagues at
Columbia University devised an
extraction system that worked on the
principle of gaseous diffusion, and Ernest Lawrence (inventor of the Cyclotron) at
the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process involving
magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Next, a
gas centrifuge was used to further separate the lighter U-235 from
the
heavier, non-fissionable U-238. Once all of these procedures had been
completed, all that needed to be done was to put to the test the entire concept
behind atomic fission ("splitting the atom," in layman's
terms).
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to
1945, more than $2 billion was
spent during the history of the Manhattan
Project. The formulas for refining
uranium and putting together a working
atomic bomb were created and seen to
their logical ends by some of the
greatest minds of our time. Chief among the
people who unleashed the power
of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from
conception to completion.
Testing The Gadget aka Atomic
BombFinally, the day came when all at Los
Alamos would find out if "The
Gadget" (code-named as such during its
development) was going to be the
colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end
to the war. It all came down
to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on
July 16, 1945, in a white blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez
Mountains in northern New Mexico to the
still-dark skies, "The Gadget"
ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of the explosion then turned orange as the
atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening
and
pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor
materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of
the soil at
the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass
created by the
heat of the reaction.
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early morning skies
with such intensity that
residents from a faraway neighboring community would
swear that the sun
came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that a blind
girl saw the
flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had
mixed reactions. Isidor
Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been
upset as if humankind had
become a threat to the world it inhabited. Robert
Oppenheimer, though ecstatic
about the success of the project, quoted a
remembered fragment from the Bhagavad
Gita. "I am become Death," he said,
"the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge,
the test director, told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
After viewing the results
several participants signed petitions against
loosing the monster they had
created, but their protests fell on deaf ears. The
Jornada del Muerto of
New Mexico would not be the last site on planet Earth to
experience an
atomic explosion.
This
is how big the atom bomb's explosion was from the air
The atom bomb was the most second largest bomb explosion ever
recorded in US history.
The Atom Bomb
On August 2, 1939, just before
the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote to then President Franklin
D. Roosevelt. Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of
efforts in
Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build
an atomic bomb.
It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government
began the serious
undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project."
Simply put, the
Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that
would produce a
viable atomic bomb.
The most
complicated issue to be addressed in making of an atomic bomb was
the
production of ample amounts of "enriched" uranium to sustain a chain
reaction. At the time, uranium-235 was very hard to extract. In fact, the ratio
of conversion from uranium ore to uranium metal is 500:1. Compounding this,
the
one part of uranium that is finally refined from the ore is over 99%
uranium-238, which is practically useless for an atomic bomb. To make the
task
even more difficult, the useful U-235 and nearly useless U-238 are
isotopes,
nearly identical in their chemical makeup. No ordinary chemical
extraction
method could separate them; only mechanical methods could
work.
A massive enrichment laboratory/plant was
constructed at Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Harold Urey and his colleagues at
Columbia University devised an
extraction system that worked on the
principle of gaseous diffusion, and Ernest Lawrence (inventor of the Cyclotron) at
the University of California in Berkeley implemented a process involving
magnetic separation of the two isotopes.
Next, a
gas centrifuge was used to further separate the lighter U-235 from
the
heavier, non-fissionable U-238. Once all of these procedures had been
completed, all that needed to be done was to put to the test the entire concept
behind atomic fission ("splitting the atom," in layman's
terms).
Over the course of six years, from 1939 to
1945, more than $2 billion was
spent during the history of the Manhattan
Project. The formulas for refining
uranium and putting together a working
atomic bomb were created and seen to
their logical ends by some of the
greatest minds of our time. Chief among the
people who unleashed the power
of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from
conception to completion.
Testing The Gadget aka Atomic
BombFinally, the day came when all at Los
Alamos would find out if "The
Gadget" (code-named as such during its
development) was going to be the
colossal dud of the century or perhaps an end
to the war. It all came down
to a fateful morning in midsummer, 1945.
At 5:29:45 (Mountain War Time) on
July 16, 1945, in a white blaze that
stretched from the basin of the Jemez
Mountains in northern New Mexico to the
still-dark skies, "The Gadget"
ushered in the Atomic Age. The light of the explosion then turned orange as the
atomic fireball began shooting upwards at 360 feet per second, reddening
and
pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive
vapor
materialized at 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of
the soil at
the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass
created by the
heat of the reaction.
The brilliant light from the
detonation pierced the early morning skies
with such intensity that
residents from a faraway neighboring community would
swear that the sun
came up twice that day. Even more astonishing is that a blind
girl saw the
flash 120 miles away.
Upon witnessing the explosion, its creators had
mixed reactions. Isidor
Rabi felt that the equilibrium in nature had been
upset as if humankind had
become a threat to the world it inhabited. Robert
Oppenheimer, though ecstatic
about the success of the project, quoted a
remembered fragment from the Bhagavad
Gita. "I am become Death," he said,
"the destroyer of worlds." Ken Bainbridge,
the test director, told
Oppenheimer, "Now we're all sons of bitches."
After viewing the results
several participants signed petitions against
loosing the monster they had
created, but their protests fell on deaf ears. The
Jornada del Muerto of
New Mexico would not be the last site on planet Earth to
experience an
atomic explosion.
This
is how big the atom bomb's explosion was from the air
Photos
used under Creative Commons
Photos
used under Creative Commons
Photos
used under Creative Commons