© 2026 WGLT
A public service of Illinois State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Aurora

Danny goes to Adelphi Maryland, site of the world's largest x-ray machine. Named 'aurora', this relic of the cold war is now being dismantled by the Pentagon but at one time, this six-story, 7 thousand ton structure was used to design shields for military equipment by mimicking gamma rays generated by a nuclear bomb. Aurora was considered an important feature of the U.S. defense system and one the Soviet's would've loved to have copied, but were never able to.

Copyright 1996 NPR