Utah Bob #35998 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 16 July 1945 – Code Name Trinity, the first detonation of a nuclear device. At 5:29 am in the Jornada del Muerto desert the US Army would test a nuclear device for the first time under the Manhattan Project. "The Gadget", as it was informally known, was of the same design as the Fat Boy bomb dropped later on Nagasaki. The device would explode with a yield of 22 kilotons of TNT and would begin the atomic age and help end WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michigan Slim Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Tomorrow is my birthday. Also launched the moonshot on my first birthday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 The plutonium device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 I just finished watching the movie Children Of Hiroshima made in 1952. It appeared to be filmed on site in 1951. Interesting and somewhat ire producing (at least for me) perspective. Seems that it was all the A Bomb's fault that the Japanese people suffered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 The test of the Fat Man "Gadget" was important for several reasons. First was to verify that the implosion-type plutonium bomb would actually work! Second, to determine that the resulting explosion would NOT set off all the nitrogen in the atmosphere (which at least a few of the scientists feared. The Pu/implosion design was more powerful that the U235 gun-type weapon dropped on Hiroshima (~12Kt). For those who still claim it wasn't necessary to drop the two bombs on Japan, the Japanese were prepared to fight to the last woman and child, with sharpened bamboo spears, as well as poison gas, and, yes, even a nuke of their own! Japan had it own program to develop nuclear weapons. They were more advanced that Nazi Germany's program. They had moved their research facility to the Chosen Reservoir in Korea, where there was plenty of hydro-electric power available. When the first bomb hit Hiroshima, the director of the Japanese nuclear program knew EXACTLY what it was! Keep in mind, that the firebomb raids staged by 21st Bomber Command under Curtis Lemay, and also the British attack on Dresden, killed more people that the nukes dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hopefully, the realization of what current nuclear deterrence forces of the United States could do, will keep countries like North Korea and Iran's leaders' hands off the keys. If not, they can count on "urban renewal" with creation of a bunch of "trinitite parking lots:! Hope it never comes to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 And the age began. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 “Now I am become Death.” Robert Oppenheimer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 I'm not sure if that device was good or bad for mankind. But, I'm sure glad the United States of America first developed it. Imagine if Nazi Germany had been the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 1 minute ago, Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 said: I'm not sure if that device was good or bad for mankind. But, I'm sure glad the United States of America first developed it. Imagine if Nazi Germany had been the first. If they had used a nuke on France the would have discovered that the fallout would have been a problem for Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: If they had used a nuke on France the would have discovered that the fallout would have been a problem for Germany. I don’t think there was ever any thought of using nukes in Europe. We were the target. And probably Russia. But if Adolf would have had them in the Spring of ‘45, Europe would still be glowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 18 hours ago, Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 said: I'm not sure if that device was good or bad for mankind. Like electricity, gunpowder, explosives, and all technologies, nuclear reactions are agnostic. Being good or bad comes from how man applies the technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 It was unfortunate that the Japanese people had to learn the hard way that we were serious. In my opinion they got what they deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Badger was there to watch it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 On 7/15/2020 at 4:30 PM, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: “Now I am become Death.” Robert Oppenheimer "Destroyer of Worlds" - quoting the Bhagavita (sp), IIRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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