By KRWG News
Las Cruces – White Sands Missile Range will open Trinity Site to the public for
another open house on Saturday, April 3.
Trinity Site is where the world's first atomic bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain War Time on July 16, 1945.
The open house is free. At the site visitors can take a quarter-mile
walk to ground zero where a small obelisk marks the exact spot where the
bomb was exploded. Historical photos are mounted on the fence
surrounding the area.
Once at the site, visitors also can ride a missile range shuttle bus two
miles to the Schmidt/McDonald ranch house. The ranch house is where the
scientists assembled the plutonium core of the bomb.
For more detailed information concerning Trinity Site, visit the Missile
Range's Trinity Site web pages (the only official Trinity Site website
out there) by going to: www.wsmr.army.mil.
The simplest way to get to Trinity Site is to enter White Sands Missile
Range through its Stallion Range Center gate on April 3. Stallion gate
is 5 miles south of U.S. Highway 380. The turnoff is 12 miles east of
San Antonio, N.M., and 53 miles west of Carrizozo, N.M. The Stallion
gate is open during each open house from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors
arriving at the gate between those hours will receive handouts and will
be allowed to drive unescorted the 17 miles to Trinity Site. The road
is paved and marked. The site closes promptly at 3:30 p.m.
The other way of attending the open house is to drive with the
Alamogordo caravan. The caravan forms at the Tularosa High School
football field parking lot and leaves at 8 a.m. It is a 75-mile drive
to the site from Tularosa and there are no gasoline service stations on
the route or at the site. The caravan is led by military police once it
gets onto the Missile Range. It is scheduled to leave for the return
trip between 12:30 and 1 p.m.
All adults must show a photo ID. All vehicles are subject to search and
should be carrying proof of insurance and current registration papers.
NO WEAPONS OF ANY KIND.
There are no ceremonies or speakers at the site. Food and souvenirs are
sold at the site. For more information, call the White Sands Missile
Range Public Affairs Office at (575) 678-1134.