July 16th 1945 - 65 Years Ago, The Birth Of The Atomic Age

Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

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At 4:45 am a crucial weather report came in favorably, and at 5:10 am the twenty-minute countdown began. Most top-level scientists and military officers were observing from a base camp ten miles southwest of the test tower. Many other observers were around twenty miles away, and some others were scattered at different distances, some in more informal situations (physicist Richard Feynman claimed to be the only person to see the explosion without the dark glasses provided, relying on a truck windshield to screen out harmful ultraviolet wavelengths). The final countdown was read by physicist Samuel K. Allison.

At 05:29:45 local time (Mountain War Time), the device exploded with an energy equivalent to around 20 kilotons of TNT. It left a crater of radioactive glass in the desert 10 feet deep and 1,100 feet wide. At the time of detonation, the surrounding mountains were illuminated "brighter than daytime" for one to two seconds, and the heat was reported as "being as hot as an oven" at the base camp. The observed colors of the illumination ranged from purple to green and eventually to white. The roar of the shock wave took 40 seconds to reach the observers. The shock wave was felt over 100 miles away, and the mushroom cloud reached 7.5 miles in height. After the initial euphoria of witnessing the explosion had passed, test director Kenneth Bainbridge commented to Los Alamos director J. Robert Oppenheimer, "Now we are all sons of bitches."Oppenheimer later stated that while watching the test he was reminded of a line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita:

Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

Here's hoping there is never a need to unleash that power again...

A-fricken-men!

I thoroughly believe it was necessary at the time. I also pray that those who hold this power in their hands, from any country, be granted the wisdom to never have to use it.

RabidAlien said:

I thoroughly believe it was necessary at the time. I also pray that those who hold this power in their hands, from any country, be granted the wisdom to never have to use it.

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My sentiments exactly.

Many of us with fathers who were fighting in WW II are damn glad that atomic bombs were used, otherwise I might not be here typing this reply!

TO

This is just my opinion. This was a weapon that was used at a time when it was needed. It helped to conclude a conflict that would have been drawn out much longer and destroyed more lives on both sides. I do pray that it never has to be used again but if it does I pray that the leaders of the nation use it properly and with much thought to the lives of which it will effect and as to weather or not it will be worth the cost of human life. Again, this is just my opinion.

Ah I had to write an essay on why the atomic bomb was neccesary during WW2....well I had a choice was it or was it not neccesary I chose the former...

Some people who have nuclear power may not be the most stable countries...