Plutonium Element Cube (Trinitite Sample)

The Trinity bomb experiment was the first test of a nuclear weapon developed by the United States. Conducted on July 16, 1945, in the Jornada del Muerto desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the bomb was a plutonium implosion-type device with a yield of approximately 20 kilotons of TNT. The test was led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the development of the bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. The bomb was detonated at 5:29:45 a.m. local time, and the explosion generated a bright flash of light, followed by a massive fireball and mushroom cloud that reached over 41,000 feet in height. The temperature at the center of the Trinity bomb is estimated to have been several million degrees Celsius. The intense heat generated by the blast caused the sand in the surrounding area to fuse together forming a radioactive green glass called Trinitite.  The blast also created a crater over 1,200 feet wide and 150 feet deep. The test was a success, and the bomb's explosive power exceed