Evening star., 1946-03-10
Atomic
Continued From First Page }

of war veterans are competing on
desert bombing ranges for the honor
of dropping the "Model-T."
The whole group of some 800 off,
GERS and 1000 enlisted men, it was
said, is beginning to funtion as one
team whose goal is successful mis-
sion on May IA.
Intense world intesest in the
Bikini tests is indicated by the flood
of several thousand applications for
press credentials still pouring In
from newspapers, radio chains and
stations, wire and Photographic
services, feature syndicates, maga-
zines, book publishers and trade
journals.
Civilian Group Assists.
Because facilities will be available
for about 200 only, the joint Army
Navy information section for Opera
ton Crossroads has obtained the as
sistance of a civilian group repre-
senting all media to assure adequate
coyerage of every phase of the tests
through impartial selection of those
to attend. The military and civilian
groups are holding frequent con-
ferences.
Facilities are being set up for the
rapid transmission of stories and
pictures by radio and special couri-
er planes to the States, and report
ers will witness the tests from at
least two airplanes as we'll as from
surface stations, under present
plane.
The tests will be covered by per-
haps the biggest battery of cameras
ever assembled, many of them de-
signed especially for the occasion
Automatic cameras will fly in
ghost" bombers through the atomic
cloud or nearer the center of the
explosion than human beings dare
venture. Other aerial cameras will
picture the explosions from all. alti-
tudes and angles.
Cameras will be set up in the
guinea pig feet of ships, on shore
stations and even beneath the sur
face of the lagoon.
Plan Extensive Photographs.
These records will enable Army
and Navy experts to study at length
reactions too rapid for the human
eye to follow. Extensive photo
graphic records also will be made
before and after the tests.
Television probably will have a
part in the show. At least one SET
is to be mounted in a pilotless Fly
ing Fortress to flash back a picture
of the instrument panel to enable
remote control operators to ma
neuver the bomber inside the atomic
cloud. The set also would send back
q picture of the area Immediately
ahead of the plane.
Bikini was chosen for the tests
because of it's isolation and the fact
coral reefs surrounding its 16-by-20-
mile lagoon are expected to contain
much of the conclusion which might
otherwise prove lethal to marine
life in the open sea.
Experts from the Interior Depart.
ment's Fish and Wild Life Service
were consulted before the decision
was made.
While the coral reefs and greer
lagoon of Bikini are rich in marine
life, they have little economic i'm.
portance and the blue depths of ths
surrounding ocean are compare.
lively free of commercial fish.
According to Elmer Higgins, direc-
tor of the division of fishery biology
the migratory lanes of deep sea
whales are far to the West, and 9
search Of whaling records going bach
a hundred years fails to show tina,
any of the valuable mammals have
been sighted in the Marshall
Islands.
Tuna Principal Fish.
The principal fish in the area art
four 'or five types of tuna, Whose
abundance, behavior and migratory
patterns will be carefully studies
before and after the tests. DR.
Leonard G. Schultz, curator of fishe'
at the National Museum, is helping
to conduct the marine studies witt
the aid of Vernon NJ Brock, o
Hawaii's Fish and Game Division
and John c. Mari, aquatic biologis
on the, South Pacific staff of Stan
ford University.
The Navy is supplying the, scien
tific party with four tuna clippe
typeSships, which have been mannet
by experienced shippers and fisher
men drawn from fleets operating
of the West Coast and Hawaii.