The town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, was built by the US government in the early 1940s as a site for research on atomic weapons. In order to catch up to German advances in the development of atomic power, the Government of the United States authorized a top-secret program of nuclear testing and development known as “The Manhattan Project.” It sought to develop the world´s first atomic bomb, and most of the research as well as devolpment for this project were carried out at a facility built in Los Alamos, New Mexico.