WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, New Mexico (KTSM)- White Sands Missile Range will open Trinity Site to the community for the first of two annual open houses on Saturday, April 1.
The Trinity Site is where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945, around 5:29 a.m. Mountain War Time. The open house is free, and no reservations are required. Tthe site closes promptly at 3:30 p.m.
Visitors will be able to experience several activities including the following:
- Take a quarter mile walk to ground zero where a small obelisk marks the exact spot where the bomb was detonated.
- Ride a missile range shuttle bus two miles from ground zero to the Schmidt/McDonald Ranch House. The ranch house is where the scientists assembled the plutonium core of the bomb.
- Have the experience of what life was like for a ranch family in the early 1940s.
The simplest way to get to Trinity Site is to enter White Sands Missile Range through its Stallion Range Center gate. Stallion gate is five miles south of U.S. Highway 380. The turnoff is 12 miles east of San Antonio, New Mexico, and 53 miles west of Carrizozo, New Mexico. The Stallion Gate is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors arriving at the gate between those hours will be allowed to drive unescorted the 17 miles to Trinity Site. The road is paved and marked.
For more information about the open house visit here.
