5. In respect to their height of burst, the bombs performed exactly
according to design.

6. The bombs were placed in such positions that they could not have done
more damage from any alternative bursting point in either city.

7. The heights of burst were correctly chosen having regard to the type of
destruction it was desired to cause.

8. The information collected would enable a reasonably accurate prediction
to be made of the blast damage likely to be caused in any city where an
atomic explosion could be effected.



THE SELECTION OF THE TARGET


Some of the most frequent queries concerning the atomic bombs are those
dealing with the selection of the targets and the decision as to when the
bombs would be used.

The approximate date for the first use of the bomb was set in the fall of
1942 after the Army had taken over the direction of and responsibility for
the atomic bomb project. At that time, under the scientific assumptions
which turned out to be correct, the summer of 1945 was named as the most
likely date when sufficient production would have been achieved to make it
possible actually to construct and utilize an atomic bomb. It was
essential before this time to develop the technique of constructing and
detonating the bomb and to make an almost infinite number of scientific and