| 5 East Flamingo Road in Las Vegas resides one of | | | | the same type of arms that were used to handle |
| the more unusual museums that visitors to this | | | | radioactive material behind a protective lead-glass |
| wild city can view. Considering that we're talking | | | | cage. |
| about Vegas, that's saying something. In fact, this | | | | The Ground Zero Theater gives an in-depth |
| museum would be considered unusual anywhere. | | | | presentation of the efforts used to build the U.S. |
| For at that site is housed The Atomic Testing | | | | arsenal. In this simulated concrete bunker with red |
| Museum. | | | | lights and wooden benches with decor to match |
| Sponsored in large part by the Smithsonian, and | | | | the real thing you'll get a glimpse into the world of |
| run by the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation, | | | | the bomb makers and their products. Despite |
| it offers displays and videos documenting the | | | | their destructive power, most people will be |
| almost 50-year history of nuclear weapons testing | | | | fascinated with the blossoming mushroom clouds |
| in Nevada. Though the major original site for | | | | produced by the gigantic explosions. |
| atomic bomb tests during WWII was near | | | | There are dozens of photographs, including one |
| Alamogordo, New Mexico, by the time the | | | | depicting one of the earliest American nuclear |
| hydrogen bomb came along testing had shifted to | | | | tests: the Bikini Atoll, 1954. One second the small |
| Nevada. | | | | island was there, the next it was vaporized. Along |
| For more than four decades, local residents of | | | | with the historical and scientific displays there are |
| Las Vegas and visitors to the casinos could | | | | collections of related memorabilia of the day, |
| actually feel the earth shake and then see the | | | | called the 'Atom Bomb and Pop Culture'. You'll see |
| mushroom clouds centered in the Nevada desert | | | | cereal boxes offering an Atomic Bomb ring, the |
| test sites not too many miles away. Gamblers | | | | once-popular 'Atomic Cocktail' and other items |
| would head under the tables as the chandeliers | | | | from a time when the science behind the bomb |
| swayed. Later, testing moved underground where | | | | was praised not feared. |
| the fallout was contained. But the man-made | | | | While you're there, you can pick up an Albert |
| earthquakes were just as strong, if not more so. | | | | Einstein T-shirt. Though he didn't work on the |
| As of 1992, in part due to an agreement among | | | | project, nor did research on atomic physics, his |
| the major powers to end live testing, the smoke | | | | letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt helped encourage |
| cleared and the ground became quiet. But the | | | | the U.S. to initiate the research during WWII. |
| history of all those tests has been preserved at | | | | Housed inside the Frank H. Rogers Science and |
| The Atomic Testing Museum. Visitors can read | | | | Technology Building, the museum was first |
| about the growing power of H-bombs as they | | | | opened in March 2005. It also employs |
| progressed from January, 1951 to the final test in | | | | knowledgeable staff, some of whom actually |
| September 1992. Along the way, the bombs got | | | | worked at the test site, who can answer visitors |
| smaller and the explosions bigger. There are | | | | questions. Come get a view from those who |
| numerous displays, videos and even a few | | | | witnessed the events first hand. |
| interactive devices. Guests can actually manipulate | | | | |