CLOSEST SECRECY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 212, 7 August 1945, Page 2

CLOSEST SECRECY

WORK IN UNITED STATES. NEW MEXICO EXPERIMENT. (N.Z. Press Association. —Copyright.; (1.45 p.m.) WASHINGTON, A „ t ° om i c For the perfection of the bomb a vast exclusion area was tablished at Richland, State, comprising 15 townsh P ‘ 500,000 acres, every acre of which \ purchased by the Uovernmcn • , j public knew was that the so . time been displaced and for a “ t nc ] agricultural and other operations haa been ended by the urgent re( l p-reat of the isolated centre lor some g secret, for which there would not be “ project';,;-r^J ably the war’s most carefully g , secret. It was the name und i the atomic bomb was produced, two words magically con ju ret I needed materials, however scar , well as manpower to carry out the vast research. Scores of fl in , u ' r t and scientific laboratories ha P in the work. They, were imsigned one problem at a time and P . answers to it, but still did no to what end their work™ mately lending. Army officeis carried even the smallest bt formation about the Man 1 ‘ project” moved with brief cases chamed to their wrists and often under gl The age of atomic force was ushered in when a group of renowned sc' tisks and military leaders assembled on the New Mexico desert to witness experiments. A test took plac July 1 at the Alamogordo air baseA small amount of matter, which was the product of the chain o plants, was made to release energy of the universe which had nee locked up within the atom from time’s beginning. The blast iron that test jarred windows in homes as far distant as Southern Arizona. At Albuquerque, 120 miles nort ieast of Alamogordo, when the Has l from' the test explosion lighted xne sky a blind girl, before the explosion could be heard, asked, \\hat was that?”

The nearest lookout point was established 10,000 yards away from the steel tower from which the experiment was carried out. Key figures in the experiment took up their positions 7000 yards away. They were instructed to lie down with their heads away from the blast tower. . The final assembly of the atomic bomb was begun on July 12 in an old ranch house. The various components were assembled and put together. One false move would have blasted the scientists and their efforts into eternity. During the final stages some had minutes developed when the assembly of an important section was delayed. It was tooled to the finest measurement, hut appaientIv it wedged tightly and would not go further. However, Dr Bacher. of Cornell University, overcame the difficulty and the assembly was then completed. On July 14 the unit which was to determine the success or failure of the entire project was elevated to the top of a steel tower. All that day and the next preparations went on. In addition to the apparatus necessary to cause detonation, complete instruments to determine pulse beat and all the reactions of the bomb were rigged on the tower °At the appointed time there was a blinding flush, lighting up the whole area brighter than the brightest daylight. A mountain range three miles from the observation point

stood out in bold relief. Then came a tremendous and sustained roar and a heavy pressure wave which knocked down two men outside the control centre. Immediately, a huge multicoloured surging cloud boiled to an altitude exceeding 40,000 feet. Cloud in its path soon disappeared, alter which the substratosphere winds dispersed this now gray mass. The test was over and the project was a success.

The steel tower, had been entirely vapourised. Where the tower had stood there was a huge sloping crater. The scientists, dazed hut relieved at the success of their tests, promptly marshalled their forces to estimate the strength of the new weapon. Major-General L. Groves, head of the atomic bomb project, said: “Fint came a burst of light of a brilliance beyond any comparison. Wo all rolled over and looked through dark glasses at the ball ot fire. About 40 seconds later came the shock wave followed by the sound, neither of which seemed startling after our complete astonishment at the extraordinary lighting intensity. A massive eloiui was formed which surged and billowed upwards with tremendous power, reaching the substratosphere in five minutes. Two supplementary explosions of minor effect occurred in the cloud shortly after the main explosion. The cloud travelled to a great height, first in the form of a ball, and then like a mushroom, changing into a loug trailing chimney-shaped column. Finally it was dispersed in several directions by variable winds at different- elevations.”