Atomic+Bomb+3rd+Period

=Atomic Bomb = =[]=

An atomic bomb is an explosive device that gets its power from nuclear reactions. The first atomic bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The atomic bomb is extremely dangerous and has only been used twice in warfare, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in WWII. Since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over 2,000 occasions for testing purposes and demonstrations. Only a few nations actually possess nuclear weapons. The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons are the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, the People’s Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. People also think that Israel has nuclear weapons but Israel has never officially stated that they do. Atomic bombs are very dangerous weapons to have and hopefully none of these countries will ever use them again in war.
 * Introduction **



**The Manhattan Project/Hiroshima and Nagasaki**

=
The Manhattan Project is the code name for the US government’s secret project to test and make nuclear weapons. The idea started by a letter sent from Albert Einstein to Franklin Roosevelt in 1939. This was the beginning of the atomic bomb. Later in the Manhattan Project, the first atomic bomb was exploded in Los Alamos to test the nuclear weapon. A month later, two nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the effects killed 90,000-166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki, with about half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. Six months before the atomic bombings, the US fire-bombed 67 Japanese cities. The United States called for a surrender of Japan before the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Potsdam Declaration but the Japanese ignored this request. By executive order of President Truman, the US dropped the first nuclear bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy”, on the city of Hiroshima. Six days later they dropped another over Nagasaki and Japan finally surrendered. =====

**Soviet Atomic Weapons Project** The﻿ Soviet Union first gained interest in nuclear physics in the 1930's.However,the Soviet atomic weapons project was started during World War II after Stalin was informed of Americas development in the area. The scientific research was directed by Igor Kurchatov, who was a noted Soviet nuclear physicist. The Soviet Unions first atomic test was on August 29, 1949. it was called "first lighting" and it was code named by the Americans as "Joe 1." In 1961 the "Tsar Bomb" was created. It was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. It was equivalent to ten times the amount of all the explosives used in World War II combined.


 * Espionage **

=
 espionage efforts on the part of the Soviet military intelligence. In 1945 the Soviet intelligence obtained rough "blueprints" of the first US atomic device, which may have contributed to the Soviet bomb project. Clearly, Espionage efforts contributed to the project in various ways and most certainly shortened the time needed to develop the atomic bomb. =====


 * U.S. Missile and Space Programs **
 * ﻿ **


 * =====The space race was a competition between the Soviet Union and the United states in outer space exploration. During the Cold War the two nations focused on trying to get to outer space first. =====
 * =====The Space Race had its origins in the missile-based arms race that occurred just after the end of World War 2, when both the Soviet Union and the United States captured advanced German rocket technology and personnel. =====
 * =====By the 1950's the world had completly changed. The Soviet Union began to make weapons and the United States soon started getting involved with the Korean Conflict. During that time, United States began to re arm. =====
 * =====The Air Force ballistic missile program had its first studies and projects initiated by the Army Air Corps immediately after World War ll. This breakthrough made it possible to manufacture the nuclear weapons that were small enough and light enough to be brought aboard the warheads ballistic missiles. =====
 * =====The Cold War produced sweeping changes in the United States military. More than 40 years the nation prepared to fight a war than ended up never coming. During that time, the US reversed its longstanding tradition against maintaining a large peacetime military establishment and made the worlds most sophisticated weapons of war. =====
 * =====<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 115%;">The Cold War left behind a program with with a large diverse collection of artifacts and structures. That opened up a lot of opportunities to discover new items. =====

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 22px; line-height: 32px;">**Nuclear Testing and the Down winders**

=
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">Nuclear testing happened between 1945 and 1980 in the U.S., United Kingdom, France and China. They exploded 504 nuclear devices in atmospheric tests at thirteen primary sites and it was equal to 440 megatons of TNT. 330 were conducted in the U.S. 1054 nuclear weapons tests to date including 1,151 nuclear devices most of them occurred at Nevada test site and Pacific Proving Grounds. They had been estimated 2,000 nuclear tests conducted worldwide. U.S. conducted more than the sum of nuclear testing done by all other known nuclear states combined. =====

=
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%;">Downwinders are referred to as the people who are exposed to radioactive contamination or nuclear fallout from nuclear weapon testing or nuclear accidents. In regions near U.S nuclear sized downwinders may be exposed to releases of radioactive materials into the environment that contaminate their water systems, food, and the air they breathe. Some of them may have suffered acute exposure because of uranium mining and nuclear experimentation. The severe health effects that had been brought about was an increase in cancer, thyroid diseases and congenital malformations. There was a fear of genetic alterations that may occur among offspring of those most exposed. =====


 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 20px; line-height: 30px;">Conclusion **

=
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 110%; line-height: 30px;">The Nuclear Weapons race changed the world because modern warfare became a whole different project. It made people determined to create the biggest and most powerful weapons. No one could trust that they were safe, and everyone wanted to know who was ahead. People were willing to do anything to win the "race." This led to great inventions for bigger and better weapons. =====

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: large; line-height: 30px;">**Sources**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 30px;">http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/Sovwpnprog.html
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_atomic_bomb_project
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Space_%26_Rocket_Center
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downwinders
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project
 * []