Not me! I am not death. I am not the destroyer of worlds. Perhaps I am the destroyer of words because of my sometimes atrocious writing. Come on now, it’s not that bad, is it?
Anyway, the title of this post comes from a quote from J. Robert Oppenheimer who uttered it after the first nuclear bomb test. Oppenheimer’s words have been on my mind because last Saturday, I visited the Trinity Site, the location of that first detonation.
Bombs and Friends
I’ve always been a science geek. One of my favorite gifts as a child was a chemistry set given to me by my paternal grandparents. I loved watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. In college, I studied biology and chemistry.
As an adult, I haven’t given up on my love of science and some of my travels revolve around it. This summer:
- I’m going to go to Florida to see the next Falcon Heavy Launch. (Please, please, please SpaceX, make it happen on time!)
- I’m going to California to visit the Griffith Observatory, tour the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (if a tour spot opens up) and stalk the SpaceX headquarters. SpaceX isn’t open to the public, but at least I can see the first rocket that landed itself which is parked outside.
And last weekend, I visited the Trinity site with Noah and Becky from Money Metagame as well as Tanja from Our Next Life. The site is on a secure military base and only open to visitors two days per year.
We left at about 6am to make the two-hour drive through the New Mexico desert.
We arrived at the site a bit before the base opened the gates, so we got out of the car to play with dead rattlesnakes and take pictures.
There are scary signs everywhere:
At the site of the detonation, there was a replica of Fat Man, the bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki:
A black obelisk marks ground zero:
Options
One of the things I like most about financial independence is being able to hit the road at a moment’s notice to go wherever I want. I’m more likely to hike on a Monday morning than take a road trip, but the options are there. And options are really what it’s all about.
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Very cool Carl! I’ve been to White Sands Missile Range a few times but for my job. I did not get a chance to go to the Trinity site. Another place you should check out along these lines is Oak Ridge National Labs. You can visit the building where we first split the atom!
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Thanks AF! I just added Oak Ridge to my map!
Good luck seeing the next Falcon Heavy launch! I also like space exploration (especially rockets) a lot. I would love to see one launch live. Only seeing the Saturn V in Houston was incredible!
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I saw the Saturn V too. Incredible how big that thing was. Wernher von Braun was a genius. A controversial one, but still a genius.
“One of the things I like most about financial independence is being able to hit the road at a moment’s notice to go wherever I want. I’m more likely to hike on a Monday morning than take a road trip, but the options are there. And options are really what it’s all about.”
Oh yeah, baby! It’s not exactly at a moment’s notice, but we’re going on a longish trip to the UK next month.
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Nice. Where are you going in the UK?
The plan is…
Bath, Chipping Campden, Iron Gorge, Edinburgh, Durham, York, London.
Mr. Freaky Frugal recently posted…Right investing effort
Looks like a fun trip! I loved Neil deGrasse Tyson’s updated Cosmos and can’t wait for the second season.
I haven’t see the new version yet. It’s on my list though!
Love the Oppenheimer/Bhagavad Gita quote. Mrs. Pop is gearing up for some of those Monday AM hikes while we’re there in July! She had to explain to me what a “14er” is…she might be doing those alone =P
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Alone! No man, you can do it! You better start running though! But they’re really not that bad. The only thing stopping you may be altitude if you’re sensitive to it.
Very nice. I’ve seen a few launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida over the years. Night launches are especially fun to see.
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#lucky
far out! we just got back from going for broke in new orleans but it would have been nice to do the trip via car. air travel sucks and we like to take along the dog if we had unlimited time off. can’t wait.
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Yeah, I like car-trips too. It’s fun to meander across the country. Once you have kids, it becomes cheaper to drive too.
Good luck catching the rocket launch. That sounds like a fantastic experience.
I still shudder to think about the impact that these killing devices have. I can’t imagine the difficulty Truman had in making the decision to green like those drops.
P.S. I never want to be POTUS.
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Man, I hope the rocket takes off when I’m there (I have a 5 day window)! I’m very skeptical that I’ll see it; maybe 5% chance…
My wife and kids were just out at NASA JPL during spring break. They had a great time getting to watch them test out some of the new rovers they are planning on sending to Mars. The one thing my son kept talking about was the seven minutes of terror that any machine/man experiences when they enter Mars’ atmosphere and attempt to land. Wish I had been able to go, but the only reason we were out in California was because I needed to be there for work.
JPL!!!! I’ve always wanted to see this, but it looks like tours are booked up for the week we’re in LA. CRAP!!
Seven minutes of terror! I will NOT be going to Mars.
I went to college at New Mexico Tech just north of there. I am so glad I took the opportunity to play tourist in the area for those four years. The Trinity site is fantastic, but I also loved Carlsbad Caverns National Park just past the Stallion Gate in White City, White Sands National Monument, the 25 antennas of the VLA on the plains of San Agustin, Langmuir Lightning Lab on South Baldy, and the National Solar Observatory up on Sacramento Peak (overlooks White Sands). I hope you stopped for a green-chili cheeseburger at the Owl on your way past it. Epic food, plus it was where many of the scientists stopped for a break on their way to the test site. It looks like you had a great time.
As for the snake…. the desert cools off quickly at night, and the snakes have learned that the road continues to radiate heat for longer than the dirt, so they are often found on the edges of the roads in the morning.
Darn! The only thing we saw was the Trinity site! All of that other stuff looks fantastic. And I can’t believe I missed that cheeseburger! Arrrgh!!!!!
The best thing about early retirement is that you have time to go back later! Lucky for you in Colorado, you’re not too far away from New Mexico for some nice road trips.
Very cool. I hope you get to see the Falcon launch on time. I’d love to take my kid to see that someday too. Enjoy!
I hope so too! I’m doubtful it will because the Falcon Heavy is so new, but here’s hoping!
That last bit is what I look forward to most…being able to go off when the mood and opportunity presents itself (within reason). Now we’re in the cycle of planning out all our vacation days about a year and a half in advance so that we make sure to use them wisely. Total bummer.
For a great history on the making of the bomb I highly recommend Steve Sheinkin’s book “Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon”. It’s categorized as young adult or children’s non-fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned quite a bit.
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Thank you for the recommendation! This topic fascinated me to no end…
Exceptionally cool Carl! I’ve been to White Sands Missile Range a couple of times yet for my work. I didn’t be able to go to the Trinity site. Somewhere else you ought to look at thusly is Oak Ridge National Labs. You can visit the structure where we initially split the iota!buy gmail accounts