Bradbury Science Museum

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The Bradbury Science Museum is the chief public facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory, located at 1350 Central Avenue in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in the United States. It was founded in 1953, and was named for the Laboratory's second director (1945-1970), Norris E. Bradbury. Among the museum's early exhibits, artifacts and documents from World War II Manhattan Project were displayed upon declassification. Other exhibits include full size models of the Little Boy and Fat Man atomic bombs. Admission is free.Early yearsIn 1953, Robert Krohn, who was in charge of early nuclear tests at what was then called Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, decided the Laboratory needed a museum to house historical weapons-research artifacts. Krohn convinced Norris Bradbury (Laboratory director, 1945-1970) a museum could preserve the Laboratory's history and provide a place for official visitors to learn about the Laboratory's weapon programs.An old ice house on the bank of Ashley Pond across from Fuller Lodge became the first Laboratory museum. Already fitted with a vault door, the ice house satisfied security standards for housing the classified exhibits Krohn wanted to preserve. The ice house Museum opened to official visitors in 1954.In 1963, Robert Porton, director of community relations at the Laboratory, expressed an interest in adding unclassified exhibits to the Museum.