Trinity and Beyond

The First 30 Minutes:

Trinity and Beyond contains the footage of the atomic bombs used in World War II and also of the ones that were tested afterwards. The movie starts by showing the memorial for the Trinity Site. This is where the first atomic bomb was tested. This occurred on July 16, 1945 at 5:29 a.m. After that, the world would never be the same. Under the name "The Manhattan Project," the U.S.'s top physicists went to New Mexico and developed an atomic bomb. The first bomb tested left a huge crater and vanquished the desert life. It could cause temporary blindness to someone 10 miles away from the bomb. It was truly and horribly spectacular. They created 2 more bombs. One named Little Boy and one Named Fat Man. These bombs were made of the radioactive elements Uranium and Plutonium, respectively. In Kansas and Washington, Uranium and Plutonium were starting to be produced. The fear of the German's producing an atomic weapon before the United States fueled everyone's need for such a horribly destructive weapon. When the weapons were created and ready, they were sent to Japan. Little Boy was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. This bomb killed about 75, 000 people. Fat Man was dropped over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. This bomb killed 42,000 people. The whole area around the bombs was riddled with radiation and the nature was dead. The people were burned and in horrible pain. They were affected and generations later were affected.

There were several bombs tested after Fat Mand and Little Boy were detonated and their catastrophic effects were known. One bomb was dropped into the water of Bikini Lagoon and one was detonated under the water. People were concerned that the bombs would create a hole in the ocean and all the water would seep out through the hole or that gravity would be destroyed. Neither of those things happened. The scientists wanted to test the affects of the radiation on ships and living things like sheep and rats. The president called off the third bomb testing but it was later given authorization. This bomb was called Sandstone and it was to test new technology. Other bombs that were tested were called
X-ray, which was detonated on April 15, 1948 and Yoke, which was detonated on May 1, 1948.

The Second 30 Minutes:

The United States of America began to mass produce the atomic bomb in order to find the perfect bomb. Several different operations took place and they consisted of several tests. The Nevada testing ground was opened when russia detonated a bomb. There was still some fear in the air and there were still power hungry Americans. There was Operation Greenhouse. I find this ironic because the atomic bomb hurts everything green and vanquishes the nature all around. There were four tests under this name. One was called easy and it was detonated on April 20. The other was called Item and it was detonated on May 24. This bomb consisted of the technology called boosting. That is when trinium is at the center of an atomic bomb. 

The hydrogen bomb was developed. If the first test using the bomb called Ivy Mike worked, then the U.S.A. would be in the thermonuclear age. Ivy Mike did work and it was the first full scale hydrogen bomb ever detonated. Another operation called Upshot-Knothole took place and 11 bombs were tested in Nevada under that name. This is when the big question about how to use nuclear weapons in combat was tested. Grable was tested using the atomic cannon. It was pretty successful. Castle Bravo was another big bomb that was tested in 1954. It stripped all the islands clean of vegetation and pretty much everything. The scientists were shocked. It left a 1.2 mile crater. Some people were affected by this bomb and the radiation. This made the public a little angry. Innocent and unknowing people were hurt. Drills in certain areas started to happen and sirens were installed. Some people started to turn on the idea of the atomic bomb.

Operation Crossroads was done under a different name and 500 miles off the San Diego coast,  some bombs were tested. There was also an Operation Red Wing. 17 bombs were tested and a bomb named Cherokee was the first atomic bomb delivered by the U.S. via an aircraft. This happened in 1956.

The Third and Final 30 Minutes:

The focus of this section was the effects of radiation, atmospheric bombs, and tension with Russia. Radiation was tested on humans. A man took a capsule on a string and swallowed it with milk. He then pulled it back out a little bit later. Strontium-90 was discovered through testing. It makes its way into a humans bone and bone marrow. It poses a threat to a person's blood cells, especially if the person is a growing child. 

In 1957, 24 tests were done in Nevada under the code name Operation Plum Bob. Pigs were placed in the way of the atomic bombs and a big balloon was placed above the bomb. The pigs were horribly hurt and the balloon ripped. another bomb was detonated 790 feet below the surface of the earth in Mesa. In 1958, Operation Hardtack took place. 35 tests were done. In this time, there was a Cactus Event. A 37 foot deep crater was filled with radioactive waste. A concrete dome was placed on top of it. Bombs named Teak and Orange were taken by missiles above earth and into the atmosphere. An E.M.P. or electro magnetic pulse was discovered. Operation Angus took place and its purpose was to test the possibility of a radioactive shield.

We needed a shield because tension was running high between Russia and America. Both countries were creating and testing bombs and both countries were afraid that a bomb would be dropped on them. At one point in 1961, the Soviet Union had new weapons of mass destruction. They had a huge hydrogen bomb and America was scared, but the bomb was not dropped on the U.S. An ambassador in America said that we had taken a leap backwards towards anarchy.

Operation Dominic was all about the ocean, islands, and the atmosphere. Bombs were detonated underwater under several code names. They were detonated on and near Christmas Island. Nuclear weapon testing did join the space age at this time. The bombs were launched into space to explode. The bomb appeared very different up in space. One test (at least) did fail, and it blew up the entire area around the rocket. After this, the president, Kennedy, said there could be no more atmospheric bomb tests. There were 331 atmospheric bomb tests in all before this was decreed. Kennedy could only control America though, not China. China continued testing bombs and they took it to a new level. They had people train to detonate the bomb and then run in with masks on and shoot. They planned to attack the United States. That is how the movie ended and it was very frightening to see the men cheering when the bomb went off and then rushing into the chaos.