At 8:14 a.m., one minute before the drop, Tibbets ordered: “On glasses.” Each member of the crew put on his protective dark polarized welder’s goggles. The bombardier, Thomas Ferebee, checked the Norden bombsight and confirmed that the aiming point was “inside,” meaning that the plane was directly on target. A radio warning signal was sent to the two observation planes. At 8:15 a.m., the Enola Gay’s bomb bay doors opened, and Little Boy’s restraining hook was retracted back into its slot. Ferebee told Tibbets, “Bomb away”—but the pilot would have known it anyway, because the plane was suddenly
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