Rex Edward Keller was a member of the Special Engineering Detachment, assigned to work in Seth Neddermeyer’s chemistry group at Los Alamos. Keller arrived at Los Alamos in July 1943, primarily to assist in the experimental work of Neddermeyer and his colleague, Joseph Kennedy. Given the difficulties of the implosion design, Keller feared that it would not work until witnessing the Trinity test in July 1945.
Rex Edward Keller
EngineerLos Alamos, NM
Trinity Site
EngineerManhattan Project VeteranMilitary VeteranSpecial Engineer DetachmentTrinity Test Eyewitness
Listen to Rex Edward Keller’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project
Read Rex Keller Documents
Rex Edward Keller’s Timeline
1943 Arrived in Los Alamos and assigned to Chemistry Division under Seth Neddermeyer.
1945 Jul 16th Witnessed the first atomic explosion in history, the Trinity test, in Alamogordo, NM