Day 9 Part 3 - Titan II Missile Museum/Desert

Back in the spring, I read a book called Command and Control by Eric Schlosser.  It was about the history of nuclear weapons; but the narrative centered about an incident involving a Titan II missile blowing up in its silo in Damascus, Arkansas back in 1980.  The book was very interesting and well written.  Although the Titan II missiles and silos were decomissioned in the 1980s, the book mentioned that one of them near Tucson was turned into a museum.  So after Pima I headed south to the Titan II Missile Museum.

Basically, they preserved the entire silo complex including the missile itself.  (Do I really have to say they removed the nuclear warhead?  Yes, they did.)
   
I wish this diagram had been in the book -- maybe it was, but I read it on my Kindle -- as it really explains how the silo complex is laid out. Basically, everything was below ground.  There was the control center and crew living area in the cylinder on the left, the access and ladder area in the center, and finally the missile silo on the right.  A passage tube connected the three parts.  All were shock-mounted as the complex was designed to survive a near-hit from a nuclear bomb and still be operational.
   
We went through the access portal and down the stairs.  Our first stop was the control room.  Notice the foot-thick steel doors to the control room.  No one got in unless they were supposed to.
   
The control room.  The docent took us through a launch sequence.  Back in the day, two Air Force officers would stand watch a 24-hour watch down here and both were required to launch the weapon.
   
As I mentioned before, the entire cylinder was shock-mounted so it could survive a near-miss.
   
Now I am in the missile silo where the Titan II missile still stands.  These missiles were propelled by liquid oxygen and a liquid fuel which would ignite as soon as they touched each other.  Very dangerous stuff.
   
The silo from outside.
   
Looking inside the complex.  There were all sorts of sensors to alert the crew of intruders.  There was no way anyone could get to the control center or missile silo so even if someone got through these gates, there wasn't much they could do.  The crew would just call Security to come get them.
   
Leaving the Titan II Missile Museum, I drove to the Desert Museum but it was too late in the day and the museum was closed.  But I ended up driving through Saguaro National Park which was very beautiful.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
Now that's a nice Saguaro cactus.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
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