Along with the well-known casino’s and entertainments, Las Vegas is home to one of the world’s most unusual museums: the Atomic Testing Museum.
It may even come as a surprise that there’s a museum anywhere devoted to the subject of atomic testing - let alone that you’ll find it in Las Vegas (at 755 East Flamingo Road). But if you know your history, you’ll realize that Las Vegas is actually the perfect place for such a museum: the nearby Nevada desert was the setting for nuclear testing by the US government for decades.
The Atomic Testing Museum has displays and videos documenting the almost 50-year history of nuclear weapons testing in the area. It is run by the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation and sponsored in large part by the Smithsonian Institute.
When you visit the museum, you’ll get an idea of how nuclear tests were done. You’ll learn that for more than four decades, Las Vegas residents and visitors could actually feel the earth shake as the tests were conducted. There was a time when casino-goers could even see the mushroom clouds centered in the Nevada desert test sites not too many miles away. Gamblers would head under the tables as the chandeliers swayed. Later, testing moved underground where the fallout was contained. But the man-made earthquakes were just as strong. Sometimes even worse.
A change in world politics and US policies ended all the nuclear testing after 1992. The smoke literally cleared and the ground became silent. But the history of all those Nevada experiments has been preserved at The Atomic Testing Museum.
Visitors can read about the growing power of H-bombs as they progressed from January, 1951 to the final test in September 1992. You’ll see how the bombs changed as testing advanced. The bombs got smaller and the explosions got bigger. There are many interesting displays, videos and even a few interactive devices. Guests can actually manipulate the same kind of mechanical arms that were used to handle radioactive material.
For an in-depth presentation on how the US built its atomic arsenal, you can go to The Ground Zero Theater. This simulated concrete bunker will give you a glimpse into the world of the bomb makers and their products. Here you’ll see those signature red lights and sit on those wooden bunker benches. Despite the destructive power of the bombs made here, most people will be fascinated with beautiful photos of those blossoming mushroom clouds produced by atomic explosions.
There are dozens of photographs, including one depicting an early American nuclear test: the Bikini Atoll, 1954. One second the small island was there, the next it was vaporized.
Along with the historical and scientific displays there are collections of related cultural memorabilia. In the ‘Atom Bomb and Pop Culture’, you’ll see cereal boxes offering an Atomic Bomb ring, the once-popular ‘Atomic Cocktail’ and other things from the time when the science behind the bomb was praised, not feared.
While you’re there, you can pick up an Albert Einstein T-shirt. Though he didn’t work on the project, his letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt helped encourage the U.S. to initiate the research during WWII. Just another factoid you’ll learn when you visit this fascinating museum.
The Las Vegas Atomic Testing Museum was first opened in March 2005. It’s housed inside the Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology Building. On site, you’ll meet a knowledgeable staff team, some of whom actually worked at the test site and who can answer all your questions. Meeting these colorful characters is a historical encounter in itself.
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