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Marking the Trinity Test's 60th Anniversary On July 16, 1945, a successful atomic test in the New Mexico desert launched the nuclear age. Weeks later, U.S. planes dropped A-bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war in the Pacific. Neal Conan and guests discuss the 60th anniversary of the Trinity Test Site explosion.
Special Series

Trinity and the Birth of the Atomic Bomb

Marking the Trinity Test's 60th Anniversary

Heard on Talk of the Nation

Marking the Trinity Test's 60th Anniversary

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One of the very few color photos of Trinity. Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives hide caption

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Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives

One of the very few color photos of Trinity.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives
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Commander Norris Bradbury next to the Gadget atop the shot tower. "Gadget" was the wartime code name for the implosion bomb. Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives hide caption

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Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives

Commander Norris Bradbury next to the Gadget atop the shot tower. "Gadget" was the wartime code name for the implosion bomb.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives

On July 16, 1945, a successful atomic test in the New Mexico desert launched the nuclear age. Weeks later, U.S. planes dropped A-bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war in the Pacific. Neal Conan and an eyewitness discuss the 60th Anniversary of the Trinity Test Site explosion.

Guest:

Ben Benjamin, eyewitness to the world's first nuclear bomb test conducted at the Trinity site. He was there as part of the photographic team working on the Manhattan project. He's the retired supervisor of Sandia Laboratory's photo-optical division.