Just picture it

August 6th, marked 64 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan by the United States at the end of World War II.
Targeted for military reasons and for its terrain (flat for easier assessment of the aftermath), Hiroshima was home to approximately 250,000 people at the time of the bombing.
The U.S. B-29 Superfortress bomber "Enola Gay" took off from Tinian Island very early on the morning of August 6th, carrying a single 4,000 kg (8,900 lb) uranium bomb codenamed "Little Boy".
At 8:15 am, Little Boy was dropped from 9,400 m (31,000 ft) above the city, freefalling for 57 seconds while a complicated series of fuse triggers looked for a target height of 600 m (2,000 ft) above the ground.
At the moment of detonation, a small explosive initiated a super-critical mass in 64 kg (141 lbs) of uranium. Of that 64 kg, only .7 kg (1.5 lbs) underwent fission, and of that mass, only 600 milligrams was converted into energy - an explosive energy that seared everything within a few miles, flattened the city below with a massive shockwave, set off a raging firestorm and bathed every living thing in deadly radiation.
Nearly 70,000 people are believed to have been killed immediately, with possibly another 70,000 survivors dying of injuries and radiation exposure by 1950.
Today, Hiroshima houses a Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum near ground zero, promoting a hope to end the existence of all nuclear weapons.
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Lest we forget.

The Autumn colours of Jozi.

"Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, photographed by Neil Armstrong (visible in reflection).

Buzz Aldrin: "As I walked away from the Eagle Lunar Module, Neil said 'Hold it, Buzz', so I stopped and turned around, and then he took what has become known as the 'Visor' photo. I like this photo because it captures the moment of a solitary human figure against the horizon of the Moon, along with a reflection in my helmet's visor of our home away from home, the Eagle, and of Neil snapping the photo. Here we were, farther away from the rest of humanity than any two humans had ever ventured. Yet, in another sense, we became inextricably connected to the hundreds of millions watching us more than 240,000 miles away. In this one moment, the world came together in peace for all mankind."

(quoted with permission from Apollo Through the Eyes of the Astronauts). (NASA)

I was 4 years old when this incredible event took place. And to this day, I remember the awe I felt when I saw the television images on our b/w TV screen of the day. Afterwards, every time some-one spoke of the 'man on the moon' ... I wanted to believe them ... I could *see * the guy ... the same man who was on TV. I know. I *saw* him there too.

Such are the way dreams are built.

Never stop dreaming. It is the essence of our existence.

South Africa's new Soccer City Stadium is seen, under construction with the Johannesburg skyline in the background, on the outskirts of Soweto, South Africa.
June 13, 2009

"South Africa is currently hosting the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, an international soccer tournament held every four years. The Confederations Cup is regarded as a dress rehearsal for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, also hosted by South Africa - the first World Cup to be held in Africa.
Expectations are high as preparations, stadium construction and planning for both tournaments have recently picked up pace."

Bafana Bafana, SA's national soccer team, defied expectations by holding the mighty Brazillians off for 88 minutes in the Confederations Cup semi-final earlier this week. If the game captured my imagination, imagine what it has done for the township lads in this series of images from The Big Picture.

Astronaut Michael Good handles a bundle of tools and equipment for use on the Hubble Space Telescope in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis - part of a five-day agenda of spacewalking and work on the giant orbital observatory. (NASA)

I still find this an incredible feat of engineering, human ingenuity, and courage.