New mobile application allows users to take virtual tour of Project-Y of Manhattan Project National Historical Park

News Release Date: June 8, 2016

Contact: Steve Sandoval, LANL Communications Office, [phone]

A new, free mobile application titled “Los Alamos: The Secret City of the Manhattan Project,” is now available for download from the Apple store. More information is available online at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1108579608 

A collaboration of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s VISIBLE team, the Bradbury Science Museum, and staff history specialists, the application allows users from any location around the world to experience the environment in that pivotal time during World War II when a group of scientists came to Project Y, the wartime-era code name for Los Alamos, to develop a weapon unlike any other in human history—a weapon to harness the power of the atom. 

“The new app provides a virtual tour of a Manhattan Project property that no longer exists,” said Jennifer Payne, Resource Management Team leader in Los Alamos’ Environmental Stewardship Group. “The app can be used by the National Park Service, Los Alamos County, Department of Energy, teachers and educators from across the country. The app also is a testament to a multidisciplinary team of subject matter experts working together in a new, technologically savvy way.” 

Some of the features of the mobile app let users: 

• Play a first-person video game that allows them to walk around or choose a bird’s-eye view to explore the townsite and significant technical areas. 
• Access an augmented-reality application while visiting Los Alamos in person to see the town as it was in the early 1940s. 
• Tour the famous locations of Los Alamos, upgrade their “clearance level” and access increasingly more secure facilities. 
• View the buildings, the documents and research Los Alamos scientists conducted to solve the mystery of the atom in an effort to end World War II. 

When users initially access the mobile application, they will receive a recruitment telegram to begin the virtual journey from 109 E. Palace Ave. in Santa Fe, the same location where the original Project-Y staff members joined the team. Mobile app users receive their initial “clearance” there, then board a bus into the mountains to explore “the Hill.” 

As users upgrade their clearance levels, they collect interesting facts and documents scattered around the Pajarito Plateau, the setting of Los Alamos. The tour finishes at the famous Trinity Test in southern New Mexico where the first atomic device was detonated. 

A version of the app for Android devices also will be available at a later time.