ATLAS-I
Encyclopedia
ATLAS-I better known as TRESTLE, or simply the Trestle, was the codename for a unique electromagnetic pulse
(EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War
at Sandia National Laboratories
near Kirtland Air Force Base
in Albuquerque, New Mexico
.
ATLAS-I was the largest NNEMP (Non-Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse) generator in the world, designed to test the radiation hardening
of strategic aircraft systems against EMP pulses from nuclear warfare
. Built at a cost of $60 million, it was composed of two parts: a powerful Marx generator
capable of simulating the effects of a a high-altitude nuclear explosion (HANE) of the type expected during a global nuclear war, and a giant wooden trestle
built in a bowl-shaped arroyo
, designed to elevate the test aircraft above ground interference and orient it below the pulse in a similar manner to what would be seen in mid-air.
TRESTLE is the world's largest structure composed entirely of wood and glue laminate.
s, powerful enough to reliably reproduce (at short range) the deleterious effects of a thermonuclear detonation on electronic circuitry as created by such examples as the HARDTACK I, ARGUS
and DOMINIC I
(Operation Fishbowl
) high altitude nuclear tests. The generator itself was mounted at the end of a long, diagonal wooden scaffold structure, located above and to one side of the aircraft platform, with the primary receiving tower located at equal elevation on the other side of the arroyo.
Due to their higher flight altitude and nuclear payload
, Strategic Air Command
bombers were the primary object of the tests, but fighters, transport aircraft and even missiles were also tested for EMP hardness on TRESTLE. In addition to electronics survivability tests, numerous sensors located beneath and to the sides of the aircraft would gather additional data on the airframe's EMP permeability to be used in design considerations for future Cold War aircraft.
The advances made in EMP generation technology by Sandia during the operation of TRESTLE greatly assisted in the construction of the much more powerful 40 megavolt
, 50 terawatt (50,000 gigawatt) Z Machine
at Sandia during the 1990s. Technological advances during the 2000s have since boosted this output to 290 terawatts (290,000 gigawatts), high enough to actually study nuclear fusion
at the point of detonation.
in the US inventory) while also minimizing any chance of interference from the ground or the structure itself, creating a reasonable simulation of airborne conditions. A mix of Douglas Fir and Southern Yellow Pine
were used for the timbers, as both showed excellent EMP transparency with the former having the best tensile strength and the latter the best weather resistance. By using an all glued laminated timber
structure and nail-free woodworking joints
to hold the giant timbers together, measurements from the EMP tests would not be skewed by ferrous
nails or braces in the structure. Even the fire escape
along one side of the trestle and the massive lag bolts holding the load-bearing beams in place were entirely composed of wood and fiberglass
.
EMP testing of aircraft, being replaced by far cheaper computer simulations as technology improved. Despite going without maintenance for over 20 years, the wooden trestle structures are all still standing and it remains the biggest metal-free wood laminate structure in the world. The trestle has, however, become a significant fire hazard since the creosote
-soaked wood has dried considerably in the desert conditions and the automatic fire sprinkler system was deactivated in 1991. Efforts are underway to secure the funding necessary to have the structure protected as a national historic landmark
, although efforts are complicated by the top secret
nature of the Sandia/Kirtland facility it is situated on.
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
(EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
at Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
near Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland...
in Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
ATLAS-I was the largest NNEMP (Non-Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse) generator in the world, designed to test the radiation hardening
Radiation hardening
Radiation hardening is a method of designing and testing electronic components and systems to make them resistant to damage or malfunctions caused by ionizing radiation , such as would be encountered in outer space, high-altitude flight, around nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, or during...
of strategic aircraft systems against EMP pulses from nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
. Built at a cost of $60 million, it was composed of two parts: a powerful Marx generator
Marx generator
A Marx generator is an electrical circuit first described by Erwin Otto Marx in 1924. Its purpose is to generate a high-voltage pulse. Marx generators are often used to simulate the effects of lightning on power line gear and aviation equipment....
capable of simulating the effects of a a high-altitude nuclear explosion (HANE) of the type expected during a global nuclear war, and a giant wooden trestle
Trestle
A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by such frames. In the context of trestle bridges, each supporting frame is generally referred to as a bent...
built in a bowl-shaped arroyo
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
, designed to elevate the test aircraft above ground interference and orient it below the pulse in a similar manner to what would be seen in mid-air.
TRESTLE is the world's largest structure composed entirely of wood and glue laminate.
EMP generator
The Marx generator providing the EMP pulse generated 200 gigawatts of electromagnetic flux at an electrical potential of 10 megavoltMegavolt
*A megavolt is 1 million volts in electronics and physics.*Megavolt is a villain in the Disney animated series Darkwing Duck.*Megavolt is a villain in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ...
s, powerful enough to reliably reproduce (at short range) the deleterious effects of a thermonuclear detonation on electronic circuitry as created by such examples as the HARDTACK I, ARGUS
Operation Argus
Operation Argus was a series of nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted during August and September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean by the United States's Defense Nuclear Agency, in conjunction with the Explorer 4 space mission. Operation Argus was conducted between the...
and DOMINIC I
Operation Dominic I and II
Operation Dominic was a series of 105 nuclear test explosions conducted in 1962 by the United States. Those conducted in the Pacific are sometimes called Dominic I. The blasts in Nevada are known as Dominic II. This test series was scheduled quickly, in order to respond in kind to the Soviet...
(Operation Fishbowl
Operation Fishbowl
Operation Fishbowl was a series of high altitude nuclear tests in 1962 that were carried out by the United States as a part of the larger Operation Dominic nuclear test program.-Introduction:...
) high altitude nuclear tests. The generator itself was mounted at the end of a long, diagonal wooden scaffold structure, located above and to one side of the aircraft platform, with the primary receiving tower located at equal elevation on the other side of the arroyo.
Due to their higher flight altitude and nuclear payload
Payload
In military aircraft or space exploration, the payload is the carrying capacity of an aircraft or space ship, including cargo, munitions, scientific instruments or experiments. External fuel, when optionally carried, is also considered part of the payload....
, Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
bombers were the primary object of the tests, but fighters, transport aircraft and even missiles were also tested for EMP hardness on TRESTLE. In addition to electronics survivability tests, numerous sensors located beneath and to the sides of the aircraft would gather additional data on the airframe's EMP permeability to be used in design considerations for future Cold War aircraft.
The advances made in EMP generation technology by Sandia during the operation of TRESTLE greatly assisted in the construction of the much more powerful 40 megavolt
Megavolt
*A megavolt is 1 million volts in electronics and physics.*Megavolt is a villain in the Disney animated series Darkwing Duck.*Megavolt is a villain in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ...
, 50 terawatt (50,000 gigawatt) Z Machine
Z machine
The Z machine is the largest X-ray generator in the world and is designed to test materials in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure. Operated by Sandia National Laboratories, it gathers data to aid in computer modeling of nuclear weapons...
at Sandia during the 1990s. Technological advances during the 2000s have since boosted this output to 290 terawatts (290,000 gigawatts), high enough to actually study nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
at the point of detonation.
Trestle structure
The primary wooden structure of TRESTLE was 1,000 feet long, 600 feet (12 stories) tall, and constructed of 6.5 million board-feet of lumber, sufficient to support a fully loaded B-52 (then the largest and heaviest strategic bomberStrategic bomber
A strategic bomber is a heavy bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating an enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, which are used in the battle zone to attack troops and military equipment, strategic bombers are...
in the US inventory) while also minimizing any chance of interference from the ground or the structure itself, creating a reasonable simulation of airborne conditions. A mix of Douglas Fir and Southern Yellow Pine
Southern Yellow Pine
Southern Yellow Pine doesn't refer to any one species of tree, but rather a group of species which are classified as yellow pine , and are native to the Southern United States. They grow very well in the acidic red clay soil found in most of the region. The varieties include Loblolly, Longleaf,...
were used for the timbers, as both showed excellent EMP transparency with the former having the best tensile strength and the latter the best weather resistance. By using an all glued laminated timber
Glued laminated timber
Glued laminated timber, also called Glulam, is a type of structural timber product composed of several layers of dimensioned timber bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant adhesives. This material is called 'laminating stock' or lamstock for short.By laminating several smaller pieces of...
structure and nail-free woodworking joints
Woodworking joints
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining together pieces of wood, to create furniture, structures, toys, and other items. Some wood joints employ fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements. The characteristics of wooden joints - strength, flexibility,...
to hold the giant timbers together, measurements from the EMP tests would not be skewed by ferrous
Ferrous
Ferrous , in chemistry, indicates a divalent iron compound , as opposed to ferric, which indicates a trivalent iron compound ....
nails or braces in the structure. Even the fire escape
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
along one side of the trestle and the massive lag bolts holding the load-bearing beams in place were entirely composed of wood and fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
.
Current status
The ATLAS-I program was shut down in 1991 after the end of the Cold War brought an end to destructiveDestructive testing
In destructive testing, tests are carried out to the specimen's failure, in order to understand a specimen's structural performance or material behaviour under different loads...
EMP testing of aircraft, being replaced by far cheaper computer simulations as technology improved. Despite going without maintenance for over 20 years, the wooden trestle structures are all still standing and it remains the biggest metal-free wood laminate structure in the world. The trestle has, however, become a significant fire hazard since the creosote
Creosote
Creosote is the portion of chemical products obtained by the distillation of a tar that remains heavier than water, notably useful for its anti-septic and preservative properties...
-soaked wood has dried considerably in the desert conditions and the automatic fire sprinkler system was deactivated in 1991. Efforts are underway to secure the funding necessary to have the structure protected as a national historic landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, although efforts are complicated by the top secret
Top Secret
Top Secret generally refers to the highest acknowledged level of classified information.Top Secret may also refer to:- Film and television :* Top Secret , a British comedy directed by Mario Zampi...
nature of the Sandia/Kirtland facility it is situated on.
See also
- Radiation hardeningRadiation hardeningRadiation hardening is a method of designing and testing electronic components and systems to make them resistant to damage or malfunctions caused by ionizing radiation , such as would be encountered in outer space, high-altitude flight, around nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, or during...
- High-altitude nuclear explosion
- STARFISH PrimeStarfish PrimeStarfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States of America on July 9, 1962, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Defense Atomic Support Agency ....