Just got my latest copy of Military Officer magazine (from the Military Officers Association of America) and it has a short blurb on a free cellphone app (iPhone only, I'm guessing?) that will be of interest to posters on this board who want to learn more about early Los Alamos history.
The app is available through Apple's app store and "takes history buffs on a journey back in time to explore top-secret military facilities where the first atomic bomb was created".
I have been fascinated by Los Alamos since my first visit there with my parents in 1955. We lived in Albuquerque and I was just 8 years old. My parents had, by chance, become friends with a family that had lived and worked in Los Alamos during the war years and still did. They were visiting Albuquerque and my parents met them by chance when the family got lost and asked my dad for directions. We were invited up to visit them in Los Alamos several times over the next three years.
The city was still "closed" so my parents had to pass a background check and get approved to visit the city. That was no problem because my dad was an AF nuclear weapons technician at Manzano Base and had all the right security clearances. Even then, we had to check in at a large security gate on the edge of town (now a Mexican Restaurant) and wait for our friends to come vouch for us and then escort us to their home - and everywhere else we went in Los Alamos.
During the course of our visits our friends took us to visit all the sites that we were allowed to see, etc. It was quite an adventure for an 8 year old. After moving around with my AF dad and our family I ended up back in NM when I was in High School and for several years afterwards. I visited Los Alamos many times - it was an open city by then.
If anyone reading this happens to visit Santa Fe, Los Alamos is just a short trip up into the mountains. It's a great day trip with lots of history to see and spectacular scenery.
The app is available through Apple's app store and "takes history buffs on a journey back in time to explore top-secret military facilities where the first atomic bomb was created".
Quote:
Los Alamos: Secret City of the Manhattan Project takes users through various facilities where the Trinity device was developed, resulting in the creation of atomic bombs . . .
... the app, which was produced by Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Bradbury Science Museum, is notable in that it allows users to go on virtual tours of Manhattan Project sites that no longer exist.
I have been fascinated by Los Alamos since my first visit there with my parents in 1955. We lived in Albuquerque and I was just 8 years old. My parents had, by chance, become friends with a family that had lived and worked in Los Alamos during the war years and still did. They were visiting Albuquerque and my parents met them by chance when the family got lost and asked my dad for directions. We were invited up to visit them in Los Alamos several times over the next three years.
The city was still "closed" so my parents had to pass a background check and get approved to visit the city. That was no problem because my dad was an AF nuclear weapons technician at Manzano Base and had all the right security clearances. Even then, we had to check in at a large security gate on the edge of town (now a Mexican Restaurant) and wait for our friends to come vouch for us and then escort us to their home - and everywhere else we went in Los Alamos.
During the course of our visits our friends took us to visit all the sites that we were allowed to see, etc. It was quite an adventure for an 8 year old. After moving around with my AF dad and our family I ended up back in NM when I was in High School and for several years afterwards. I visited Los Alamos many times - it was an open city by then.
If anyone reading this happens to visit Santa Fe, Los Alamos is just a short trip up into the mountains. It's a great day trip with lots of history to see and spectacular scenery.