National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History represents New Mexico’s unique role in World War II in its history exhibits. The following describes how the world’s first atomic weapons came to be designed, built, and tested in New Mexico, and the Museum’s displays about the development of Fat Man and Little Boy.

It is hard to imagine a time in our past when the entire planet was locked into a struggle between powers, but it was during WWII.  Visitors to the Museum will uncover the world issues in Europe as well as in Japan that lead the United States into the war following Pearl Harbor. 

The dawn of the Atomic Age began with the testing of the world’s first atomic bomb in the remote New Mexico desert. The “Manhattan Project” and “Trinity and Its Legacy” exhibits show visitors how much influence over the modern world this test created.

Imagine the pressure and sense of importance felt by the project scientists as they prepared to test the “Gadget” at the secret site in New Mexico. This exhibit features a re-creation of the Trinity Tower used in the test, a replica of the Gadget device itself, and two unique automobiles that played a role in the actual test.

 

Two automobiles are also on view: a replica of the 1942 Plymouth Special Deluxe that carried the plutonium core to the Trinity Site, and the 1942 Packard custom limousine that carried senior scientists from Los Alamos to Trinity and other New Mexico locations.

Then visitors will see actual casings of Fat Man and Little Boy (the most photographed items in the Museum), while reading about the decision to drop the only two atomic bombs ever used during a war.

 

While the atomic bomb brought the war to a close, the after-effects of the bomb were felt for years in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Visitors can view the cities before, during, and after the bombs were dropped. The exhibit features a unique photographic collection of still and motion picture images that were taken soon after the bombing. The exhibit also features images that portray the people affected, as well as the cities today and the commitment to peace and conflict resolution that came after the war.