The Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Introduction
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The Manhattan Project National Historical Park is located in Los Alamos, New Mexico and commemorates the Manhattan Project of World War II. According to the official National Parks website, the park tells the story about the people, events, science, and engineering that led to the creation of the atomic bomb which helped end World War II. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park was officially established in 2011 thanks to the efforts of the Secretary of the Interior and the Department of Energy. The Manhattan National Historical Park has three sites across the United States, one in Hanford, Washington, one in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and this particular site located in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
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Backstory and Context
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The Manhattan National Historic Park is currently owned and managed by the Department of Energy and the National Park Service. The Park includes three specific areas: Gun Site Facilities, V-Site Facilities, and the Pajarito Site. The Gun Site Facilities include three bunkers, labeled TA-8-1, TA-8-2, and TA-8-3, and a portable guard shack. These facilities are where the "Little Boy" bomb was designed, which was the bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima in Japan during WWII. The V-Site Facilities include assembly buildings which were used by the Manhattan Project staff to build and test a plutonium bomb referred to as the Trinity device. The Pajarito Site was where plutonium research was done for the Trinity device
The Manhattan National Historic Park commemorates the efforts of scientists and engineers and all of those who worked on the Manhattan Project, which was critical in the United States and its allies winning World War II.
Sources
"The Manhattan Project National Historical Park." Visit Los Alamos. Accessed April 14, 2019. http://www.visitlosalamos.org/the-manhattan-project-national-historical-park/.
"The Making of a National Park." Energy.gov. Accessed April 17, 2019. https://www.energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/history/manhattan-project/manhattan-project-0-0.