My trip to Ground Zero in pictures

Joe_Cool · 10-06-2007, 09:16 PM

No, not New York, jerky. The REAL ground zero:

Trinity Site, the beginning of the Atomic Age, where the first nuclear device that ever existed was set off.

I walked around in the center of an Atomic Bomb crater.

It was a humbling and awe-inspiring experience. I'm all for nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, but using them is serious business. In one millionth of a second, a half mile-wide hole was blasted out of the ground, and the sand was melted into glass.

The turn off from the highway. This is where I started feeling that "holy shit, I'm about to see something important" feeling:

The main gate:

The entrance to Ground Zero:

Jumbo, the steel container that was originally supposed to house the bomb, with its marker:

The capitalists, selling souvenirs, some of which actually have something to do with the site

Even though it's a historical monument, there's never any doubt that it's still a military base. The reminders are everywhere.

Information booth at the main entrance.

Trinitite = NOT YOURS.

The monument:

All that's left of the tower that held the bomb.

The photo tour. These markers were pretty cool. They're hung up on the fence surrounding the crater.

A piece of "trinitite". Greenish glass formed when the sand melted:

They have an untouched section of the original blast crater preserved under this thing, but it's not on display anymore.

A replica of the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki. It became the prototype for the postwar Mark-III standard bomb.

The monument and tower footing.

The whole crater:

The "West 800 Instrumentation Shelter". Note the huge cracks in the concrete.

And here's the site from the 800 yard instrument station. You can barely see it (almost 1/2 mile away), but the blast was still powerful enough to shatter the concrete and blow pieces off of it:

Looking back from the highway. Trinity is right in the middle of those mountains in the distance.

And now I'm back at my boring-ass house.

I hope you guys like the pics.

thatguyoverthere · 10-06-2007, 10:55 PM

Those pictures are freaking awesome! You did an excellent job of documenting your trip! I thought it was incredibly interesting.

Good job!!! Thanks for posting them!

Joe_Cool · 10-07-2007, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by thatguyoverthere

Those pictures are freaking awesome! You did an excellent job of documenting your trip! I thought it was incredibly interesting.

Good job!!! Thanks for posting them!

Thanks.

RMNIXON · 10-07-2007, 02:35 PM

Great Pics!

Must be a weird feeling to stand on the ground where it happened!

Joe_Cool · 10-07-2007, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

Great Pics!

Must be a weird feeling to stand on the ground where it happened!

You have no idea. VERY weird. It was pretty mind bottling to think that I was standing on the spot where the world changed, and walking around inside an atomic bomb crater.

RMNIXON · 10-07-2007, 03:07 PM

Just looking at the picture of you holding the "trinitite" gave me that "oh so real" feeling!

Joe_Cool · 10-07-2007, 11:31 PM

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

Just looking at the picture of you holding the "trinitite" gave me that "oh so real" feeling!

Yeah, I about flipped the first time I saw a piece. It really brought home the idea that history was made there.

Scrum · 10-08-2007, 12:00 AM

How deep is the crater? Is there even a noticeable depression in the ground?

Joe_Cool · 10-08-2007, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by Scrum

How deep is the crater? Is there even a noticeable depression in the ground?

There's a definite depression. It's not very deep, but it's very well-defined. You can see it in one of the pictures I took. It's from the edge of the crater.

ImageShack - Hosting :: 50thecrateria6.jpg

Scrum · 10-08-2007, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by Joe_Cool

There's a definite depression. It's not very deep, but it's very well-defined. You can see it in one of the pictures I took. It's from the edge of the crater.

ImageShack - Hosting :: 50thecrateria6.jpg

I just figured that was a line where the vegetation wouldn't grow.

Joe_Cool · 10-08-2007, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by Scrum

I just figured that was a line where the vegetation wouldn't grow.

No, there's grass and small bushes and stuff. I think it might just be trampled down by the tourists. You're not allowed to go outside the fence.

RMNIXON · 10-08-2007, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Scrum

I just figured that was a line where the vegetation wouldn't grow.

I have seen old aerial photos where you can see an large blast outline, but I don't think it is that clear anymore after all this time?

Joe_Cool · 10-09-2007, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by RMNIXON

I have seen old aerial photos where you can see an large blast outline, but I don't think it is that clear anymore after all this time?

Yeah there's been a lot of erosion in the 62 years since. Even the section under the protective housing is covered in sand.

Publius · 10-09-2007, 11:38 AM

that's pretty cool ... I find the trinitite particularly interesting, it is a direct link between the present and the moment that the blast occured.

Joe_Cool · 10-28-2007, 05:13 AM

Originally Posted by Publius

that's pretty cool ... I find the trinitite particularly interesting, it is a direct link between the present and the moment that the blast occured.

Yeah it was really amazing to hold it, because that's exactly what I was thinking: "Here I am, standing in the middle of an atomic bomb crater. And holding a chunk of sand that was melted into glass by the blast. Einstein, Teller, and Oppenheimer were just over there watching it happen."

I was truly in awe.