A mushroom cloud rises above a narrow strip of coral atoll in this aerial photograph documenting one of the early U.S. nuclear weapons tests conducted at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States detonated dozens of nuclear devices at Bikini and nearby atolls as part of the Pacific Proving Grounds testing program, forever altering the islands and shaping the course of the Cold War arms race. Project: 218417