Hermes II at Sandia National Laboratories

DateSeptember 1968

Mediumgelatin silver print

Dimensions8 7/8 × 6 5/8 in. (22.6 × 16.9 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Nancy Tucker

Object numberPA2019.041.030

DescriptionTubes of the Hermes II, a high-voltage generator, dominate the frame as a person stands in shadow in a tunnel in the background of the giant machine at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A caption on the back of the photograph reads, "GAMMA POWER. It’s not the year 2001. It’s 1968 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But the Sandia Lab machine shown here can produce a fantastic power of five trillion (five million million) watts! Sandia, a Western Electric subsidiary operated for the Atomic Energy Commission, built this high voltage generator to simulate the flash of gamma radiation. It will be used to study radiation effects in various materials. Named Hermes II, the machine is contained within a tank over 80 feet long and 22 feet in diameter (Sandia employee is shown for relative size). Hermes will release its radiation energy very quickly – 70 billionths of a second.”

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