This article is part of a series that will delve into the history of the Trinity Site Test, which marked its 80th anniversary on July 16, 2025, and the commemoration of the growth and evolution of White Sands Missile Range, which marked its 80th anniversary on July 9, 2025. An observance for White Sands Missile Range will take place on Oct. 17 at WSMR and a commemoration for Trinity Site will take place Oct. 18 at the Trinity Site Open House.
Manhattan Project leaders decided a test of the plutonium device was essential to determine the feasibility of the implosion design. The test would provide an opportunity to see if it worked, and if not, an opportunity to collect test data to make future adjustments.
Sites in California, Texas, and Colorado were considered but discarded due to the distance from project headquarters at Los Alamos, N.M. The area selected and now known as Trinity Site was a four-hour drive south of project headquarters and already under federal government control as part of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, which was established in 1942 for the training of B17 crews. The location also had access to highways and a rail line.
This area is part of the “Jornada del Muerto,” (Dead Man’s Journey) a name given by Spanish Explorers in the 1600s to describe the dry desert basin running from Las Cruces to Socorro, N.M. The site had the Oscura Mountains to the east and the Rio Grande River approximately 20 miles to the west and provided isolation for secrecy and safety.
Soldiers and workers started arriving at Trinity Site in the fall of 1944 to prepare for the test. Workers constructed a 100-foot steel tower to test the device at Ground Zero. The test site also included a Basecamp 10-miles south of Ground Zero at the ranch owned by brothers David and Ross McDonald, and a house 2-miles south of Ground Zero where the plutonium core was assembled, at the ranch house owned by George McDonald (brother of David and Ross). Workers also constructed numerous instrumentation bunkers at various locations around the Ground Zero to collect test data. They also constructed three larger bunkers to the south, west and north of Ground Zero. These three bunkers were 10k meters from Gound Zero and the closest any person was to Ground Zero during the test. The South 10k bunker was the nerve center and where Robert Oppenheimer viewed the test.
A patch was issued to military personnel who participated in the Manhattan Project: the background of the patch is blue to represent the universe; a white cloud and a lightning bolt form a question mark which symbolizes the unknown results and the secrecy surrounding the project; the lightning bolt extends down splitting a yellow atom, which represents atomic fission and the expected success of the test; a red and blue star in the center of the question mark is the insignia for the Army Service Forces to which Soldiers working on the Manhattan Project were assigned.
Social Sharing