Manhattan Project

Here in the hills of East Tennessee, the atomic bomb story begins with the initial developmental stages of what, when deployed, would be a super-atomic nuclear fireball. You will tour sites around the Historic Oak Ridge community with a local historian stopping at the K-25 History Museum, where the staff pioneered gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment technology for the “Little Boy” bomb. At the American Museum of Science and Energy, you will become further immersed in the Manhattan project with a two-screen documentary and exhibits that detail the life of this “Secret City.”

In the late afternoon, the group will depart Knoxville and fly to Tri-Cities Airport near Hanford, Washington.

Overnight in Richland, Washington.

Hanford became the world’s first large-scale center for plutonium production. Here the team built three massive nuclear reactors and used the waters of the scenic Columbia River as coolant. You will spend the morning visiting the B-Reactor National Historic Landmark to see the production of plutonium for Trinity, the first detonation device, and subsequent bombs. Hanford also became an atomic boomtown, and you will see the human side of the project. You will tour the Hanford Construction Camp Historic District, Bruggemann’s Ranch, White Bluffs Bank, and Allard Pump House.

Overnight in Richland, Washington.

The group will take an early morning flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where you will begin your study of the assembly phase of the Manhattan Project. Driving north to Santa Fe, you will stop at Lamy Train Station, the arrival point for the brain trust that would complete the Manhattan Project. The scientists disembarked their trains here to begin their work at Los Alamos. Just as they did, you will proceed to 109 E. Palace Avenue, the check-in office for all arriving personnel. The only difference is that Dorothy Scarritt McKibbin, a vital part of the organization, will not be there to greet you. She became known as the “First Lady of Los Alamos.”

Overnight in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

You will start your day with a brief tour of Santa Fe, including touring the infamous “Spy Sites,” and continue to Los Alamos. Located on a remote mesa in northern New Mexico, Los Alamos became home to the more than 6,000 scientists and support personnel of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Here, you will begin with a visit to the Manhattan Project Historical Landmarks.

Overnight in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This morning you will have some free time to explore Old Santa Fe, established by the Spanish in 1610. You will have time to visit shops, take in the architecture, and see Native American arts and crafts.

At noon, the group will journey South in preparation for the Trinity Open House at White Sands. En route, there will be a stop in Albuquerque to visit the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, where the exhibits range from the discovery of nuclear theory to modern advances in nuclear medicine. Here, you will also see the B-29 Silverplate, the bomber specially designed to carry the bombs “Little Boy” and “Fat Man.”

Overnight in Socorro, New Mexico.

In July 1945, at the Trinity Site, the test detonation sent a multi-colored cloud almost 40,000 feet into the atmosphere while the intense heat fused the sand below into solid glass. Your tour of the Trinity Site will include the assembly site of the plutonium core at McDonald Ranch House and actual Ground Zero, now marked by a memorial obelisk.

Overnight in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Today, you will visit White Sands National Park, followed by a guided visit to the White Sands Missile Base Museum. This evening, the group will gather for a farewell dinner and a congenial sharing of our experiences on the Manhattan Project Tour.

Overnight in El Paso, Texas.

There will be one morning transfer to El Paso International Airport to catch your flight home.