I Visit the National Atomic Museum
April 22, 2012 ~ 4 Comments
I recently watched “Breaking Bad” on Netflix, and there’s an episode where Heroin Science Man goes to the National Atomic Museum, probably to deal some heroin, I don’t remember. And I was all, “Yes! I’ve been to that museum, and I tested as only slightly radioactive!”
Nobody offered me any heroin, though.
Anyway, the Atomic Museum is great! I highly recommend it. I have to admit it wasn’t as great as my two-years-overdue honeymoon in Hawaii, but, you know, still good.
In other news, the Skin Horse 3 Kickstarter drive is going awesomely!
Since we launched, we’ve unlocked one bonus pledge level, Funky Dude and Disco Dancer. I previously announced that we would unlock two more pledge levels when we reached $12,000, but I cannot wait any longer! The next levels will be unlocked when we reach $10,000! I have decreed it!
Thank you so much to everyone who’s pledged so far. This will be an excellent book.
A couple of additional museum recommendations if you like rockets and atomic power. Alamogordo, NM (next to White Sands) has a space museum that is fairly awesome, it is also the resting place of Hamm the Space Chimp. If you come to Alamogordo on the first Saturday of April or October, the Trinity Test Site where the first atomic bomb was detonated is open to the public. You have to get up really early for the drive, but it’s an interesting experience to do once.
Next to Las Cruces, NM is the White Sands Missile Range Museum, which has an intact German V-2 rocket. It’s pretty spiffy. They also have all sorts of other rockets and stuff.
Las Vegas, well away from the strip, has the Atomic Testing Museum. Very sobering place.
And Tucson, AZ (actually, south in Green Valley) is the Titan Missile Museum, the only intact Titan silo and open for tours. It has an affiliated aerospace museum in Tucson called Pima Air Museum which has some rather singular planes: an SR-71 Blackbird, a B-17 and a B-24, and also one of two test B-52 bombers that were used to drop the X-15 rocket plane, it has a notch cut in to the wing for the tail of the X-15 to poke through.
You want atomic bombs and aerospace? I gotcha covered.
The SAC museum outside of Omaha is also pretty cool. They too have an SR-71, as well as a B-36 (which is ginormous!) and also a parasite jet fighter for same! And a Valkyrie. As well as lots of other cool stuff. (I haven’t been there for many years, so this is outdated information, but I don’t suppose they’ve gotten rid of any of the cool stuff.)
The Trinity Site is pretty damn high on my list of places to visit before I die. Partly so I can pretent I’m actually in the infocom game.
BABY!