What were the main objectives of the Manhattan Project?

The main objectives of the Manhattan Project were centered around the development of an atomic bomb. Initiated during World War II, the project aimed to harness nuclear fission as a means of creating a powerful new weapon that could potentially bring a swift conclusion to the war. The urgency of this project was heightened by fears that Nazi Germany was also working on similar nuclear capabilities.

The Manhattan Project represented a monumental collaboration of physicists, engineers, and military personnel, involving key sites in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It culminated in the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb in July 1945, known as the Trinity Test, and later in the deployment of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The project's achievements not only had a profound impact on the outcome of World War II but also ushered in the nuclear age, fundamentally changing international relations and military strategy in the decades that followed.

The other options, while significant in their own contexts, do not pertain to the primary goals of the Manhattan Project, which focused explicitly on nuclear weapons development.