Titan Missile Museum

My parents have been going to lots of places that I'm not allowed....

The Titan Missile Museum was one of them.

These underground missiles were on active duty from the 1960's until the 1980's, and the missile site is less than a ten minute drive from our house. There used to be 18 of them underground. Now there is only one left underground, part of the museum, and the warhead has been removed.

This picture shows the missile on the right. The command centre and the living quarters are on the left.

 This is the command centre where the launch command would be given. This was state-of-the-art back in the 60's, but one computer now could do all the work of the modules you see.

 No one could ever be alone in the command centre and each person had to remain visible to the other.

 The engineering was amazing. The floors and ceilings were concrete with reinforcement 5 feet thick. This is one of the doors used to seal the area off to the outside. If a nuclear attack occurred, the people inside would be protected for a long while.

 Just about everything was suspended on springs. If the ground shook outside from an attack, the springs would keep the buildings and the missiles stable so the gyros would work during launch.

 Even the lights were on springs....

Looking down you can see the metal ring that kept the missile in the right position for launch.

Those of us who remember the Cold War could really appreciate all the information available at this wonderful museum. Thank goodness all the deterrents on both sides kept the missiles from ever being launched.