Trinity talk held on 70th anniversary of Hiroshima

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Around 300 people crowded into a New Mexico Air National Guard hangar Friday -- most of them enlisted members of the 58th Special Operations Wing -- for the wing's "Combat Dining Out," a night of inspiration.

The agenda was one of food and fun, with barbecue, games, along with a talk by retired Air Force Col. Tim Hale.

Hale is a retired C-130 pilot who recently fin- On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, over 50 people gathered at to hear a presentation about a world-changing event in New Mexico just weeks before: the first-ever atomic bomb test at Trinity Site in New Mexico.

Duane Hughes, a retired scientist and docent at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History gave the talk at Yanni's restaurant in the Nob Hill neighborhood just north of Kirtland on Aug. 6.

Hughes holds degrees in physics and electrical engineering. He worked for 38 years at Sandia National Laboratories, including seven years at the lab's Materials and Process Laboratory where he worked on nuclear weapons development. He has volunteered at the museum for the past 16 years.

He gave a detailed picture of what it was like to work on the July 16, 1945 test. It was the culmination of the top-secret Manhattan Project and the last leg of the race to develop an atomic weapon before Nazi Germany.

In his presentation, Hughes included lesser-known details of the Manhattan Project and Trinity test, like the living and working conditions and parts of the test that one wouldn't see when visiting the site today.

"There were about 80 experiments fielded in what was the largest scientific experiment ever conducted," Hughes said. "I want people to know the tremendous hardships and challenges that the scientists and engineers faced."

The lecture emphasized the historic nature of the test and its implications.

"It changed the history of the world," Hughes said. "Had the Trinity test not been successful, Truman would have had to invite Russia to participate in the invasion of Japan, and Stalin would have wanted to keep the northern half of Japan. It would have been just like North and South Korea."

Hughes' talk was part of the "Science on Tap" lecture series, cosponsored by the University of New Mexico, the Explora children's science museum and the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.

Greg Shuman, deputy director of the nuclear museum, said sponsoring these kinds of talks is part of the museum's outreach efforts.

"It's huge for us to sponsor something like this. It's important to get what we do at the museum in front of people around Albuquerque," Shuman said. "I've met a lot of people who live here who say, 'I've never been to the museum.' So it's great to have a knowledgeable volunteer like Duane tell this story. He covers the subject so well."

For more about this series of science talks, visit www.scienceontapnm.blogspot.com.