Welcome to “Ranger in Your Pocket,” with virtual tours of Manhattan Project sites! Each tour features audio/visual vignettes drawn from interviews with Manhattan Project veterans and their families. Use your smartphone or tablet to take a self-guided tour while visiting Hanford’s B Reactor or Bathtub Row at Los Alamos, or take a tour from the comfort of your home.
Oak Ridge Tours
Oak Ridge, TN
This program features the three uranium enrichment facilities, the X-10 pilot plutonium production reactor as well as “life in the secret city.” We are grateful to William H. Wilcox and his family and Ellen Cherniavsky for their valuable support for this program.
Oak Ridge Innovations
Oak Ridge is the home of many leading scientific and engineering research facilities, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Voices from Japan Tour
Voices from Japan
The stories of hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) and perspectives from Japanese government officials, museum directors, academics, and nonprofit leaders on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Manhattan Project Sites & Themes
African-Americans and the Manhattan Project
Tens of thousands of African-Americans left their homes to work on the Manhattan Project around the country. Though many faced discrimination, they succeeded in building thriving communities.
France and the Atomic Age
French scientists, including Marie and Pierre Curie and Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, transformed modern physics with their brilliant discoveries.
The University of Chicago
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Chicago Pile-1 reunion, December 2, 1946. Photo courtesy of the University of Chicago Photographic Archive, [apf3-00232], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
One of the most important branches of the Manhattan Project was the Metallurgical Laboratory, or “Met Lab,” at the University of Chicago.
New Mexico Tours
“Doctor Atomic” Trail
“DOCTOR ATOMIC” TRAIL
The Gadget at Trinity Site. Design by the Atomic Heritage Foundation.
In summer 2018, the Santa Fe Opera will be performing the opera “Doctor Atomic” by composer John Adams and librettist Peter Sellars. This program complements the opera with information about some of the key Manhattan Project sites in New Mexico.
Los Alamos, NM
Los Alamos, NM was the site of the Manhattan Project weapons laboratory. This “beta” tour features several important Manhattan Project sites, including Fuller Lodge and historic homes on Bathtub Row. More coming soon!
Trinity Site, NM
The Trinity Test, the world’s first nuclear test, took place on July 16, 1945, in Alamogordo, NM.
Hanford Tours
Pioneers
PIONEERS
Ferry captain at Hanford, 1938
In the 19th and early 20th century, Hanford, WA was home to Native American tribes and frontier farmers.
Know Before You Go
This program provides information about the science, engineering, and technology of Hanford’s B Reactor.
B Reactor
Take a tour of Hanford’s B Reactor, the world’s first full-scale plutonium production reactor.
Hanford, WA
Learn about life at Hanford. Workers and their families who relocated to Hanford for Manhattan Project work found a dusty desert, but also built a vibrant and close-knit community.
Hanford’s Environmental Legacy
During World War II and the Cold War, Hanford, WA was the site of plutonium production for the atomic bombs. Radioactive and chemical contamination affected parts of the site and the Columbia River, and impacted nearby residents. Today, the U.S. government continues to clean up the site.
Manhattan Project Innovations
Los Alamos Innovations
In addition to being the weapons laboratory for the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos has developed technological innovations that continue to influence our world today.
A Crucible for Innovation
This tour highlights some of the scientific and engineering innovations to come out of the Manhattan Project, including radiation detection instruments, plutonium production methods, and much more.
Coming Soon
Espionage
This tour will focus on spies during the Manhattan Project and the Alsos Mission in Europe, in which soldiers and scientists raced to determine how far Nazi Germany was in its quest for the bomb.