We got up early in order to be at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site at 8 AM to get "first come, first served" tickets to tour a Minuteman Missile Silo (deactivated, of course). Several other people had the same idea and got there ahead of us. Only 6 people go on each tour, so we got tickets for the 9:30 tour so we met at the gates of the Launch Control Center Delta 09 at 09:25.
There are three active Minuteman Missile sites in Montana and Wyoming, each of which still house 150 active Minuteman Missiles. This particular silo was deactivated during the 1990's and left open for tours. It was very interesting, and pretty sobering too, to realize how many nuclear warheads there still are around the world, aimed at "strategic targets"....i.e. PEOPLE. Luckily, everyone seems to know that everyone else could annihilate them, so no one is pushing any switches.
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| Waited at gate for admittance to Launch Control Center Delta 01 |
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| They really wanted us to wait!!! |
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80-ton door into the launch center, 20 stories underground was decorated by the Missileers who manned the place.
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The 80 ton door (Yep!) which closed the control center off from the rest of the facility in case of nuclear attack. The people inside had the capability to launch nuclear warheads over the North Pole to targets in Moscow in 30 minutes (at 15,000 mph), Thus the "Domino's Pizza" take-off. But the USA has a policy that we will never launch unless attacked first. Everyone in the control center knew that by launching a missile, we were engaged in nuclear warfare. Pretty awful to contemplate.
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| One of two control panels. Two person teams were required to activate the system, only after being directed by the President.
It was very interesting, also frightening, to learn that the Minuteman missile program continues today... although the numbers of missiles (thus, nuclear warheads) is greatly reduced since the START treaty.
On a totally different but historically significant note, we visited the Prairie Museum. This is one of the few remaining sod houses from the days when people were homesteading South Dakota. A family could register for 160 acres. If they lived on it for 18 months, built a house and farmed the land, they could purchase it for $80. This is the Brown family's homestead. A house built into the side of a hill, and 160 acres of hard-won wheat, spelt and corn farming. A tough life. They traveled by covered wagon, at 15 miles per day.
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| Just a sample of their farm equipment |
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| Front of the house was constructed of wood, the back was embedded into the dirt and made of sod "bricks" |
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| Their living room. Note the sod bricks comprising the walls
After the Prairie Museum, we drove the 45 mile "Scenic Loop" through Badlands National Park. It was amazing!! The visitor center was so well done and educational! This area has been a treasure trove of fossils since 1843. One of the stopping places along the loop offered a wooden walkway with "windows" exhibiting fossilized remains of various prehistoric animals.
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