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The National Atomic Testing Museum in
The museum covers the period from the first test at NTS on January 27, 1951, to the present. Among its exhibits covering American nuclear history is a "Ground Zero Theater" which simulates the experience of observing an atmospheric nuclear test.
Other exhibits include Geiger counters, radio badges and radiation testing devices, Native American artifacts from around the test area, pop culture memorabilia related to the atomic age, and equipment used in testing the devices. Other displays focus on important figures at the facility, videos and interactive exhibits about radiation.
In 2012 the museum added an exhibit about
Community Environmental Monitoring Network
/ref>
National Atomic Testing Museum webpage
National Test Site Historical Foundation - National Atomic Testing Museum
{{US nuclear tests American nuclear weapons testing Cold War museums in the United States History museums in Nevada Military and war museums in Nevada Museums in the Las Vegas Valley Paradise, Nevada Science museums in Nevada Smithsonian Institution affiliates Technology museums in the United States Tourist attractions in the Las Vegas Valley National museums of the United States Private congressionally designated national museums of the United States
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
, documents the history of nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the ...
(NTS) in the Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...
about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Las Vegas. The museum operates as an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
.
Founding
The museum opened in March 2005 as the "Atomic Testing Museum", operated by the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is located inLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...
, at 755 E. Flamingo Rd., just north of Harry Reid International Airport
Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...
and just east of the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...
. Funding included support from the purchase of commemorative Nevada Test Site license plates issued by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.
On December 31, 2011, President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
signed a military spending bill which included designating the museum as a national museum affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. The National Atomic Testing Museum is one of 37 national museums in the U.S.
Exhibits
The museum covers the period from the first test at NTS on January 27, 1951, to the present. Among its exhibits covering American nuclear history is a "Ground Zero Theater" which simulates the experience of observing an atmospheric nuclear test.
Other exhibits include Geiger counters, radio badges and radiation testing devices, Native American artifacts from around the test area, pop culture memorabilia related to the atomic age, and equipment used in testing the devices. Other displays focus on important figures at the facility, videos and interactive exhibits about radiation.
In 2012 the museum added an exhibit about Area 51
Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport ...
, and expanded the exhibit two years later.
Weather monitoring
The weather station outside of the National Atomic Testing Museum records weather data for downtown Las Vegas. The data include temperature, wind speed and background gamma radiation in microroentgens per hour. The station is part of the Community Environmental Monitoring Network (CEMP)./ref>
See also
* ''How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb
''How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb'' is a history and photography book written by Peter Kuran and published in 2006 by VCE.
Description
It documents the stories of the men who photographed US nuclear weapons tests
Nuclear weapons tests ar ...
''
* American Museum of Science and Energy
The American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) is a science museum in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, designed to teach children and adults about energy, especially nuclear power, and to document the role Oak Ridge played in the Manhattan Project. The mus ...
* Bradbury Science Museum
The Bradbury Science Museum is the chief public facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory, located at 1350 Central Avenue in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the United States. It was founded in 1953, and was named for the Laboratory's second directo ...
* National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History (formerly named National Atomic Museum) is a national repository of nuclear science information chartered by the 102nd United States Congress under Public Law 102-190, and located in unincorporated ...
References
External links
National Atomic Testing Museum webpage
National Test Site Historical Foundation - National Atomic Testing Museum
{{US nuclear tests American nuclear weapons testing Cold War museums in the United States History museums in Nevada Military and war museums in Nevada Museums in the Las Vegas Valley Paradise, Nevada Science museums in Nevada Smithsonian Institution affiliates Technology museums in the United States Tourist attractions in the Las Vegas Valley National museums of the United States Private congressionally designated national museums of the United States