In 1939, at Einstein’s insistence,
President Roosevelt formed a committee to oversee Atom Bomb research. The Congress appropriated $6,000 for the
program.
In 1942 Dr. John Oppenheimer (a
German immigrant) was named director of the Atomic Research Laboratory.
Oppenheimer’s team consisted
of:
·
Hans Albert Bethe
(German)
·
Enrico Fermi
(Italian)
·
Willard Libby
(American)
·
William Penney
(British)
·
Leo Szilard
(Hungarian)
·
Harold Urey
(American)
The central question in
developing the bomb was the critical mass of (U-235) enriched uranium. It was felt that too little uranium and the
neutrons would escape without producing a chain reaction. Too much uranium might cause a massive chain
reaction that would destroy Los Alamos and its
5000 employees. There were even some
scientist that questioned whether the chain reaction could actually be controlled
or might it initiate an event that would destroy the earth.
July 16, 1945
The bomb was six feet long
and two feet in diameter, weighing 4 tons.
Using plutonium 239 the bomb exploded atop a 100 foot steel tower with a
force of 20,000 tons of TNT. The steel
tower was instantly vaporized and one mile of desert sand was turned to
glass. The concussion from the blast
was felt ten miles away and a mushroom cloud was produced that extended 40,000
feet into the atmosphere.
the Ol'Buzzard
And we all lived happily ever after.
ReplyDeleteRed on black is impossible to read. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteSo now we have toys that can destroy us all that the generals are just itching to use on someone because they can. Ain't it fun?
Mr. President, we must not allow a mine shaft gap.
ReplyDelete