We've visited quite a bunch of nice museums and sites since we moved here but that one was MY idea. I rarely come up with ideas for activities (except going to Guitar Center), but when I saw that we had such a museum here, nothing could have kept me from visiting it.
 
Among other things, it's quite impressive to experience the kind of naivety of the early days, the optimistic spirit - to see how the atom bomb was merchandised through all kind of thing - from candy to music to memorabilia of all kinds - and how people here actually welcomed it with open arms. When we saw the Miss Atomic Bomb cutout, we looked at each other in disbelief. This didn't really happen, did it?. Well, sure it did! 
 
It also puts that part of the American history in a different light for us - the reality of the cold war, especially for us who weren't born until the 70s. We were obviously aware of it, and even as Canadians, we had a somewhat similar perception of USSR, but today, it took a whole different dimension, seeing it through the eyes of the people who were there. And considering the current events over there and the tension building up, it was all the more easier to put ourselves into that context.
 
My only regret is that because it is actually quite a huge museum, unless you want to spend practically your whole day there, you won't be able to read and see everything, so we had to move over certain things more quickly. But overall, it was definitely worth it.
 
 

Sounds like fun.  Did the museum glow in the dark too?  
 
I've got those atomic testing videos (Trinity and Beyond, etc.).  Pretty wild stuff.  Most people don't have a clue that over 2,100 atomic bombs have been detonated (with the US setting off about half that amount).

craigb
Sounds like fun.  Did the museum glow in the dark too?  
 
I've got those atomic testing videos (Trinity and Beyond, etc.).  Pretty wild stuff.  Most people don't have a clue that over 2,100 atomic bombs have been detonated (with the US setting off about half that amount).

The adjacent Area 51 museum actually does. :P
 
We've watched a projection in a little room which recreated the ground vibration you'd feel at a distance similar to that of people who used to watch the explosion, with a shrieking wind noise to top it all. I can't imagine what the real thing must have been like - and I certainly hope I don't ever get to know.

It must have been weird for everyone in Vegas to stop, and drink "atomic cocktails" while watching the blasts.
 

I grew up in East Tennessee, near where the first atomic bombs were designed, developed and built.  the town I grew up in was about 20 miles from Oak Ridge.  Oak Ridge was originally a city built by the military specifically for the purpose of the "Manhattan Project" and was gated all around like a military base.  if you worked there, you had to live there or you had to have a special clearance to enter the city.
 
There's a large museum there dedicated to that time where the first ones were built.  There were (and still are) 3 separate facilities which build different components of the bombs.  the 3 facilities were (and still are) X-10, Y-12 and K-25.
 
Einstein (prompted by 2 other scientists) had written a letter to President Roosevelt regarding how powerful Uranium was as a power source.  Roosevelt took that information and created the Manhattan Project under the direction of Robert Oppenheimer.

Interesting Rain, I'm going to have to check this out next time I do a show in Las Vegas.

It'll be on my to-do list for my next visit, too. Is it in town, or would I have to rent a car to get there?

Museum    
 
I grew up in the area of the worlds largest uranium production- mining and milling in New Mexico to "yellowcake" then to be shipped to refinement facilities.
Spent 7 years mining and milling uranium iron ore.
 
 

Ah, now we know how Spacey acquired his super powers.

Bit - It is in town, on East Flamingo, close to the Hard Rock Casino, if that gives you an idea.