The+Manhattan+Project

**The Manhattan Project and Preparations for Dropping the Bomb**


 * __The Top-Secret Operation

Key Players__**

In August of 1939, Albert Einstein sent a letter to then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining to him that it is possible to utilize uranium to build a bomb that may emit large amounts of power, which is produced by a chain reaction of the atoms. Einstein expressed concern that the Nazis may use this kind of energy to create bombs powerful enough to destroy entire countries and encouraged the U.S. to build such a weapon before Nazi Germany had the chance.

//The Manhattan Project// was the codename for the top-secret project formed by the U.S. government which developed the first nuclear weapon. It was also formally called the Manhattan Engineer District.

The scientists were working on the project were of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the entire project was directed by General Leslie R. Groves. Groves was an Army Engineer officer for the United States military, and prior to directing the Manhattan Project he was known for his role in overseeing the construction of the Pentagon. Scientific research was directed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, an


 * = [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Leslie_Groves.jpg width="210" height="265" align="center"]] ||= [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/JROppenheimer-LosAlamos.jpg width="198" height="267" align="center"]] ||
 * = General Leslie R. Groves ||= J. Robert Oppenheimer ||

The development of the atomic bomb cost around $2 billion worth of funding and eventually employed around 130,000 employees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project

[|**http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/mp/p4s1.shtml**]**
 * How it Was Kept Secret

In order to move quickly without anyone realizing it, the Manhattan Project put hundreds of millions of dollars into the project to be successful while still keeping its existence a secret. According to the source "Speed and Secrecy Were the Watchwords of the Manhattan Project". The reason why they made the project a secret from the country is because of political peace considerations. It was so secret that even the people who were working on the project didn't know what it was for until the a radio announcement broadcasted news of the bombing of Hiroshima.


 * Preparations for Dropping the Bomb**




 * = [[image:http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100TonExp1.jpg width="248" height="188"]] ||= [[image:http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100TonExp2.jpg width="263" height="197"]] ||= [[image:http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/100TonExp3.jpg width="272" height="197"]] ||
 * =  ||= Photographs from a test detonation in New Mexico ||=   ||

http://www.tynysigns.com/images/tynysigns/large/Manhattan_Project_lg.jpg

[|http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/hiroshima-2f.jpg]

http://www.theenolagay.com/man.html

In September 1944, Paul Tibbets Jr. was briefed on the Manhattan Project. He would be responsible for organizing and training a unit to deliver the atomic bombs.

On the afternoon of August 5th, 1945, President Truman gave his approval to use the weapons against Japan. By the time the plane left, it's familiar arrowhead tail motif had been changed on both sides to the letter "R" in a circle, the standard i.d. for the Sixth bomb group. The idea behind the change was to confuse the enemy if they made contact, which they did not. At 02:45 A.M. August 6th, the Enola Gay lifted off North Field with Paul Tibbets and his crew en route to Hiroshima. At exactly 09:15 plus 15 seconds the world's first atomic bomb used in combat. The course of history and the nature of warfare was changed. The first atomic bomb ever to be used in a military operation was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan On August 6, 1945 at 8:16:02 a.m. Hiroshima time. The bomb, affectionately named "Little Boy," exploded 1,900 feet above the courtyard of Shima Hospital, with a force equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT.