About 30 LCOC members toured the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History as part of the club’s Western National Meet held in Albuquerque, N.M. Oct 17-21, 2018. The visit began with a caravan of classic Lincolns from the Crowne Plaza, HQ hotel for the meet, to the museum through Albuquerque’s historic district.
Once within the museum boundaries shutterbugs had a field day photographing the old cars with the museum’s collection of early aircraft and artifacts associated with the U.S. development of nuclear weapons systems and their means of delivery. The museum’s collection of aircraft is one of the largest in the state.
Prominent displays included a B-29 Superfortress, a B-52 long range bomber, a scaled down version of the early nuclear bomb test tower, a nuclear submarine sail replica and numerous other examples of weapons delivery systems. While the weather was cold and blustery the mood inside the museum was cordial. We received an excellent guided tour of the facility where we learned about New Mexico’s key role in development of the nuclear weapons most historians credit for finally ending World War II.
The exhibits highlight the work of early nuclear scientists such as Albert Einstein and many others while bringing visitors a solid feel for the office and national environments of the 1940s when the nuclear development Manhattan Project was in full swing. It represented the combined efforts of thousands of engineers, scientists and academics who labored in secret at locations around the country during wartime to develop the weapons that ushered in the Nuclear Age.
Replicas of the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs that were produced in New Mexico and then delivered over Japan in August 1945 by U.S. B-29 Superfortresses based in nearby Tinian Island were on view.
The museum also touches on the scientific advance that shaped the modern world, and how nuclear science influences all aspects of life, from medicine, warfare, and energy production to pop culture. It covers the use and disposal of radioactive material and the impact it has on the environment. A robotic puppet of Albert Einstein helps kids understand the basics of physics through amusing experiments. In addition to nuclear science-oriented medical and scientific instruments, displays feature nuclear weapons, including replicas of the Little Boy and Fat Man bombs.
For more photos of the museum visit clink here.
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