That meant relying on distance photography, and developing special high-speed cameras in order to capture in precise detail moments of the blast fractions of a second apart. So much in an atomic reaction happens quickly, and any instruments that could normally measure blast details in proximity would be destroyed by a successful explosion. Important, also, was the difficult work of capturing the test on film, a feat that had never been done before.įilming Trinity allowed the scientists to have a record of the test for analysis after the act. Getting the science of atomic fission correct was hard work-up to the moment of the test scientists were taking bets on whether or not the explosion would ignite all the oxygen in the atmosphere (it didn’t). Robert Oppenheimer, the first director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the central figure in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer. On July 16, 1945, at 5:30 am, the first atomic bomb in history was detonated at what is now White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Jack Aeby / Los Alamos National Laboratory SHARE

This color photograph of the test was taken by Jack Aeby.

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