MinuteMan Missile Silo, SD (June 10, 2009) ..
Today we visited a remnant of the Cold War between Russia and the United States ... a decommisioned Minuteman I misssile silo located off I-90 between Wall and Rapid City, SD. This silo had been abandoned per the SALT I treaty signed by the Russian and American governments limiting the number of allowable nuclear land based missiles. When operational this missile could be launched on a moments notice; its' W56 warhead could hit a target 6000 miles away with a destructive force of 1.2 million tons of TNT which is 120 times greater than the nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima during WW II. Pictured above is the access hatch with the main silo hatch off to the left. Main hatch weighs 9 tons and is opened using an explosive blast of compressed air at launch. Off in the background is a VHF antenna (small cone shaped device) which allows for communication with an airborne launch control platform.
Fortunately, none of these missiles were ever fired in anger and the standoff between the two nations was resolved peaceably.
For more information go to .. http://www.nps.gov/mimi/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman
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