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Another Albuquerque museum field trip (but no art!)

Flag seen on our Albuquerque field trip.
This is the flag that flew over the base at the Trinity Base Camp. New Mexican winds, not the blast, tattered the flag. (The wind is especially brutal here in spring. All the better to spread the pollen…)

 

Last week Tom and I decided that we needed to explore our still newish-to-us adopted city (we’ve been in New Mexico just over a year and a half), so an Albuquerque field trip day was declared. Off we headed NOT to anything fiber-related, not even anywhere remotely art-centric. Nope, we decided that it was time to visit the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. The website blurbs:

 

The Museum’s mission is “to serve as America’s resource for nuclear history and science. The Museum presents exhibits and quality educational programs that convey the diversity of individuals and events that shape the historical and technical context of the nuclear age.”

Poster seen on our Albuquerque field trip.

We are in New Mexico, and I’m sure you all remember the role the state played in the years leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II: Los Alamos; the Manhattan Project; the Trinity nuclear test; and so on. The museum takes you back there, certainly, but it also has exhibits on radiation and its history, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cold War, nuclear power, nuclear medicine, nanotechnology, nuclear waste

Sub sail seen on Albuquerque field trip.
Simple looking compared to all the planes and missiles on the lot, the nuclear submarine sail was my favorite piece. It was massive. But where’d the rest of the sub go?

transportation, and atomic pop culture (Jimmy Neutron, anyone?). Heritage Park is out in the “backyard” and consists of planes, rockets, bombs, cannons, missiles, and other interesting, historical “paraphernalia” to explore.

 

Missile seen on Albuquerque field trip.
That would certainly give me pause.

 

 

Photo of a bomb.
See caption below.

 

Description of a bomb.
Read for yourself. And shiver…

 

 

 

Photo at Nuclear Museum.
My “artsy” shot from the rear of a missile.
Photo of a missile.
Alternatively, this is the shit of nightmares. Can you see Tom standing next to it?

 

Given the tenor of the country these days, not to mention North Korea and its recent antics, I have to say that I looked at the place a little differently than I might have a year ago. And while the building looks modest from outside, there’s much too much to see and learn in one visit; we barely scraped the surface of anything after the Cold War. (The door to the outdoor attractions happens to be there, and you’ll spend a while outside.)

American symbol.
The Nuclear Museum shows an aspect of America that maybe we’d like to forget. Or ignore. That’s at our own peril.

If you’re in the area, after you give me a call or an email to say hello, of course, head over to the Nuclear Museum in Albuquerque. History’s important; you know how we can’t help but repeat it. Not!

 

PS – If you have kids, you can bring them too, especially school age, maybe 9 and older. Little Albert’s Laboratory (as in Einstein; not to be mistaken for FAT Albert’s Laboratory) was hands-on learning about physics. Very cool, though by the time we got there, Tom was getting a little cranky. He only gave me about five minutes to play. Thank goodness we have company coming in May. Back to Little Albert’s Laboratory I go!

 

Tom and sidewinder missile.
Is there anything sexier than your husband of several years posing next to a Sidewinder missile?

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2 comments

  1. Debbie Moyes says:

    I commented on this yesterday in Starbucks and then the message disappeared…..zooming aorund somewhere in cyberspace or perhaps in that Starbucks!
    Sounds interesting though I know Peter would enjoy it way more than me. I can only look at technical, science museum displays for awhile. We used to go to DC often and we would always split up in the Smithsonian. I would go to the First Ladies’ exhibit and to admire the wonderful quilts and amazing loom that they have. We do both like the Air & Space Museum though. It’s so fun to see actual planes (and bombs!) on display.
    North Korea is very scary. We learned way more than we wanted to know about them when we lived in Japan. They are a constant threat. What about the poisoning of Kim Jong Il’s brother in an airport??? It’s the stuff of an action movie plot, I’m sorry to say.

    • Laura S says:

      Oh, the little Korean guy scares the crap out of me too, Deb. His 1/2 brother is living out of the country and he still goes after him… Brrr… Ha, you sound like when my ex-husband and I would visit Eisenhower’s museum in Kansas. He was really into WWII (we were in KS because he was in the Army). I liked checking out Mamie’s stuff too. This museum’s a little different because both Tom and I have science backgrounds, though his is more in-depth than mine (he’s a chemist and worked a lifetime career in chemistry). Love the Smithsonian but have only been to the Air & Space museum and the one with the jewels. What I like best, though, is a good factory tour. I used to do environmental and safety compliance work in factories (that’s work that’ll be disappearing soon; yikes!!!). Tom’s always telling me to relax when we go through those tours. I do…in wineries! 🙂

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