By Dean Blaine

Las Vegas is no stranger to bright lights. The city’s new Atomic Testing Museum, however, recalls the days when flashing lights had less to do with the Strip’s neon marquees than with bombs going off in cold war experiments conducted in the desert 65 miles northwest of the casinos.

From 1951 through 1992, nearly 1,000 nuclear blasts took place at the Nevada Test Site. The new museum, which opens February 20, explores the role this site played in U.S. history. In the Ground Zero Theater, visitors experience what it was like to witness a test during the 1950s. The Innovators Gallery features a video of former employees discussing their feelings about nuclear testing. "Reminding people what the cold war was all about is probably the most important mission the museum has," says Bill Johnson, its director. "A lot of people have forgotten that the testers thought they were saving the world." Information: (702) 794-5150, www.ntshf.org.