Operation Greenhouse

for three men drawn from the atomic energy commission its contractors military industrial and educational Laboratories and from the Army Navy and Air Force Commanding General of Joint Task Force 3 Lieutenant General Elwood cassada United States Air Force Dr Alvin C Graves Los Alamos scientific laborator Deputy Commander Joint Task Force 3 and scientific director for the test program [Music] [Applause] [Music] during the tth days of World War II an entire American city of men women and children was hidden behind a seemingly unimportant postal number box 1663 today such secrecy is no longer possible today the city boldly and proudly parades the normal pattern of American living this now appears to be an average city of schools and playgrounds of houses and apartments a place to live where men and women can feel at home but for all of these things this city is not an ordinary City this is the mile high city of Los Alamos the atomic City this is a modern peblo created by the people of the United States as a research and development center for Atomic weapons this is still the city where citizens take for granted security fenes guards passes caution the proof testing of weapons a routin practice by now is the job of a busy section of the Los Alamos laboratory called J division with such a specialized division carrying on tests the other parts of the scientific laboratory operated for the atomic energy commission by the University of California can continue undisturbed in vital research and development work one of the proving grounds for testing weapons is an outdoor laboratory any we talk atal in the Central Pacific this trust territory of the United States has been used before as a testing ground for operation sandstone in 1948 but three years of pass in Sandstone 3 years to bring new and improved Atomic weapons to this secluded equatorial land this land of space Islands arranged like individual beads of a necklace and the new test operation will be called by code name Greenhouse but Greenhouse means more than just approving ground more than a group of scientists from Los Alamos operation Greenhouse is big big in logistics big in the scope of its aims and purposes to meet this problem a self-contained unit a task force is organized this is a four-part organization atomic energy commission Army Navy and Air Force working together under a unified command as for the larger scope of greenhouse it is a real challenge to include in a test all of the valuable experimentation that can come out of the detonation of atomic weapons the armed services for instance have a continuing need for information on the offensive and defens of effects of atomic blasts in these days of international tension they need to know the physical results of Atomic Warfare even though Los Alamos is the parent laboratory so to speak scientists and technicians from other government agencies IES from American industry colleges universities and other organizations throughout the country men working in related fields are asked to participate to help in instrumenting the operation since any we talk is a distant and primitive area men have to leave their Stateside Laboratories and homes for a period running into months since 1943 when Los alus was established men from this Mesa have left the Continental limits of the United States twice before to test the weapons they have created Now The Proving Ground Comes Alive like a University campus when students return from the summer holidays Parry island is home for Task Force Headquarters and for the scientific group and wak island is home based for the Army and Air Force the Navy stays aboard its ships anchored in the lagoon these are the dormitories of any wuk University spread out and separated from the dorms by a safe distance are the Laboratories the individual test Islands seemingly like so many science buildings on College grounds the long awaited forward area work begins even in a world of tension atomic energy is more than thunderous test detonations and calculated plan Devastation we still have much to learn of our nuclear fuels uranium and plutonium this is the precious stuff so valuable it makes sought after gold seem like common scouring powder whatever can be done to conserve it is to our national advantage to proof test weapons scientifically inaccurately it is necessary to know the behavior inside the weapon and also to know the outside behavior of the forces let loose the effects of the weapon the facts and figures on blast heat light radiation weapon designers go to Great Lengths to get this kind of information for example to measure blast instruments are suspended from these plastic balloons this gives a pressure reading in free air high-speed cameras capable of taking several million separate pictures per second are placed close to zero point they will record the story of nuclear forces from a vantage point where man himself dares not stand radiation will be measured by devices on Whose photographic Emulsion will be indelibly imprinted the record of Swift moving invisible nuclear particles men of greenhouse tackle their any we tuck problems with the same kind of scientific approach they use in their own home Laboratories attention to detail elimination of variables a check and double check of key apparatus this is actual on the spot experimentation there is no running back home for a forgotten test tube and then the time comes for which all have worked H hour on the Zero Island the tower holding the weapon of the moment stands alone and the men of green house move back like a crowd at a beach aware of the incoming tide they pick up their belongings and Retreat to safety a test shot is ready watch an atomic test watch [Music] from the wealth of Diversified crafts and skills that go into the making of a great industrial country our on those men with the specialized skills necessary to understand and measure Atomic detonations but to maintain these men to carry on a weapons test on the specific Outpost support is necessary not alone technical support but the kind of support concerned with just plain everyday living there's a detail like food for instance it takes more than a picnic lunch to keep 8,500 hardworking men happy and it's no trick at all to get hot and dirty and dust Rusty if you don't believe it try a caral atol sometime water is the answer but water is a crucial commodity it has to be pumped from the caral beds then distilled to remove the brackish salt and then there's the problem of getting to and from work most of the time walking is out of the question unless you have a natural tendency to be amphibious small boats ply between the various islands of this giant lab in the middle of an ocean and light planes are in constant demand for sh service between the islands although the Armed Forces perform the unheralded but necessary job of supporting operation Greenhouse it is not their principal role like the atomic energy commission the Army Navy and Air Force are here to learn this is a chance for them to study a weapon still new to Warfare the more the services know about the effects of atomic weapons the better able they will be to use them if necessary to get the answers they need samples of the type of tools a military man uses are arranged at various distances from zero point an armored tank this powerful land weapon of the army has instruments mounted inside which will record the amount of heat an atomic bomb creates in the interior of a steel hull how much radioactivity how much pressure a bombproof roof capable of withstanding an atomic blast directly under the detonation point just how thick should it be how much concrete how much reinforcement by studying this building representative of structures in industrial areas the Air Force will gather data on the effect of atomic bombs on potential industrial targets what will happen to this airplane wing when blast and Heat hit it what will be the effect on this fuselage to be more realistic these aircraft will actually fly into the blast area and record the results they will find out how close an aircraft can come to the heart of the explosion without suffering serious damage all of these things to learn more about the tools of Atomic Warfare at Joint Task Force 3 headquarters on Parry Island the commander and his staff make their final decisions for another Zer hour whether information from the scattered outlying meteorological stations from the reconnaissance squadrons comes funneling into headquarters precipitation winds Aloft cloud cover a weather situation is good the decision is made now in atic pre- Dawn Darkness the drone aircraft are ready to take off on their missions giant planes without a living man on board and with all their tons of weight and thousands of horsepower flown by a remote control officer on the ground through an incredible Gadget in his hand on Signal the first safety crew abandons its drone comes now the Fantastic achievement of a four motor bomber taken safely off into the air by Those Distant magic fingers which then with even mightier Magic switch the manless controls of the drone aircraft to a mother plane theof each mother hovering impatiently to take its cruelest baby on through the darkness guiding it into the [Music] unknown to TP the fantasy of the cruess bombers come the fighters for the first time in Airplane history drone Jets pilotless crewless at super speed flown up into the night sky controlled only by a driver and overdriver and other jet aircraft who electronically guide the Destinies of their jet drones as in previous Atomic tests the drones are flying Laboratories for the scientists high above the test Islands they are in a strategic position to collect important information on the still not so familiar event an atomic blast watch [Music] [Music] as the armed services bring themselves up to date with the results of the latest Atomic weapons the men of science are Thinking Beyond current weapons they are exploring New Horizons looking for data basic to the science of nuclear physics Atomic investigators cannot tell whether their calculations were right or wrong merely by watching a weapon go off they must find out what goes on inside they must attempt to look into to understand further the invisible world of the atom it is difficult work complex thought-provoking calling for mental courage and physical stamina without delicate instruments they would be lost for what they're searching for is in a world so small that the average human mind bocks at trying to conceive of it we speak so gbly of time yet do we have any idea of a millionth of a second instruments such as these oscilloscopes have the ability to measure events that occur during the subrational span of a heartbeat of the 1 millionth part of a second but atomic energy is not being channelized to weapon earing alone to learn more about the effects on human life medical experiments are being run test animals will be used to enable men of medicine to learn what pressure heat and radiation does to living tissue a nation gearing up to an effective civilian defense program must have all the answers facts about radiological medicine detection devices protective materials as an illustration these mice will be exposed to varying doses of atomic radiation and medical men will study the results information gained from buildings will help determine the vulnerability of United States buildings to Atomic attack so that adequate civil defense planning may be carried on materials are to be exposed which are considered as potential fire hazards in Atomic Warfare such information will influence defensive thinking it will Aid in the selection of materials design of equipment and structures disaster planning and so while tests which can affect the security of a Nation wait while Naval vessels make their ceaseless security patrols while radar scans the skies while military police guard the beaches in the master control station a door is closed padlock the single key put in the pocket of one man head of the firing party no one will enter here until the party returns from its final round of checking circuits closing switches making ready for the release of nuclear forces [Music] [Music] the firing party returns to its home Ireland and all is put in Readiness before the break of day another momentous blast will light the pre-dawn sky over any we talk set into being by a mechanical Gadget called a sequence timer [Music] [Music] [Music] 30 [Music] seconds [Music] [Music] 25 [Music] 15 10 seconds n up 8 7 6 5 4 3 two one and all [Music] the fifth series of atomic tests to measure and understand the nuclear forces of the atom is Over andal The Proving Ground shrinks again to Garrison sze but preparations must be made for another series of experiments the need for continuing tests of atomic weapons is self-evident we need now as never before to expand our knowledge in the field of atomic weaponery if any one group of people recognizes the urgency of time it is the people living and working on this isolated Mesa in New Mexico the men of Los Alamos return to their mile high security guarded laboratory to continue with the development of nuclear weapons and important research in many other aspects of the atomic energy program the people of this Mesa well know the important responsibility placed on them for what answers are found within a seemingly insignificant building what happens behind the wire fences what a man carries home with him and for security sake will not speak of these things are vital to Americans everywhere the city once secretly hidden behind post office box 1663 today is so actively and openly engaged in the atomic energy program that it can no longer be cloaked behind a postal number for this is the city designed and dedicated to the study of nuclear forces in the atomic age a study which concretely means to the American people that new improved Atomic weapons have been developed and proof tested the nation stockpile position has been bettered we have added another Stone to our small pile of knowledge about the complex nucleus of the atom we have gained important offensive and defensive knowledge on the effects of atomic blasts on military equipment we have also learned necessary realistic lessons for our own protection we have studied defense for the individual defense for the nation as a result of atomic tests such as operation Greenhouse we are gathering the knowhow the strength to defend that which we prize so highly the land that is our heritage this land that is our home [Music]