In 2004 the Department of Energy repaired and repainted the artifact at its Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.Ĭlick here to return to the World War II Gallery. It was delivered by the B-29 Enola Gay (on display at the Smithsonian. When constructed in 1945, the 'Little Boy' on display was an operational weapon, but it has been completely demilitarized for display purposes. The Mk I bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. About the Enola Gay Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber aircraft manufactured in 1945. It stood for decades abandoned, left outside to the elements, souvenir hunters, and animals. However, Enola's road to the museum was long. Weighing about 9,000 pounds, it produced an explosive force equal to 20,000 tons of TNT. Thanks to the effort of the Smithsonian staff members, Enola Gay is on public display today. The result of the Manhattan Project, begun in June 1942, 'Little Boy' was a gun-type weapon, which detonated by firing one mass of uranium down a cylinder into another mass to create a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. It was delivered by the B-29 Enola Gay (on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum), it detonated at an altitude of 1,800 feet over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug.
The Mk I bomb, nicknamed 'Little Boy,' was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare.
