6/19/2023 0 Comments Minuteman missile silo![]() The Cold War is a sophisticated ( and scary) subject. Ok, so there are parks where you can afford to skip the visitor center. Minuteman Missile NHS Interpretive Center All three sites are located in South Dakota along a short stretch of Interstate 90, near Badlands National Park. Three separate locations comprise Minuteman Missile NHS. Today visitors can explore the visitor center, tour the Delta-01 Launch Facility, and visit the Delta-09 Missile Silo to get an inside view of Cold War History. The Park’s Delta-01 launch control facility controlled ten of those missiles, one of which is preserved in the Park’s Delta-09 Silo. The Delta Wing supervised 3 squadrons totaling 150 nuclear missiles. The Park preserves a segment of the Delta wing, one of six Minuteman Missile bases. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site gives a window into the American nuclear arsenal and the chilling significance of the Cold War. Delta Wing: The Context for Minuteman Missile NHS Image from NPS. Each missile carried a nuclear payload equal to eighty atomic bombs. 1000 Minuteman missiles stood ready in their silos, prepared to launch at a moment’s notice. The Minuteman Missile Program was the ultimate result of the MAD policy of nuclear deterrence. This sounds too much like Star Trek, especially given current events. ![]() The hope was that the certainty of nuclear devastation would prevent a nuclear attack from happening in the first place. The United States committed to never initiate a nuclear attack on the USSR, but remained armed and ready to retaliate to any act of nuclear aggression. Therefore, the US government adopted a strategy known as M.A.D., “Mutually Assured Destruction”. The United States lacked the means of detecting and intercepting an incoming nuclear warhead. It wasn’t long, however, until the USSR successfully created its own atomic weaponry and surpassed the United States in space technology. ![]() The US began the Cold War with a nuclear advantage, being the first nation to invent the atomic bomb. The two countries had radically different views on government and human rights, and tensions began almost immediately after WWII ended. “The Cold War” is the name given for a fifty-year struggle between the United States and The Soviet Union. A Minuteman Missile Launch Site could easily be mistaken for reservour or utility site. An arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles stood at constant alert in underground silos located throughout the Great Plains. However, this same area was the front-line of the Cold War for over thirty years. The Great Plains have long been known as America’s heartland, a place of quiet farms and simple living. Front Line of the Cold War The peaceful plains of South Dakota housed 150 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Here’s a quick take on this remarkable “missile silo national park” and the geopolitical events that built it. Want a glimpse at a Nuke? You can do that at this missile silo national park. The park’s three units include an outstanding visitor center, a high-tech missile launch facility, and a complete underground missile silo. More than that, the park actually features a complete Nuclear alert facility. ![]() Minuteman Missile NHS is the first national park dedicated to telling the story of the Cold War Era. Missile Silo National Park? Minuteman Missile NHS preserves a Cold-War Era ICBM launch base. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site takes these two words to an entirely new calibre. Yes, there actually is a missile silo national park, and i t’s right off Interstate 90. A self-guided cell phone tour is available at the silo to explain the components found at the site.Words like “unique” and “exceptional” are to be expected at National Park sites. The Delta-09 missile silo is open from 8:00 a.m. All tour participants must be able to be physically capable of climbing two 15 foot ladders unassisted in the event of an elevator failure. The tour route proceeds with a walk through of the grounds and topside support building before descending in the original elevator 31 feet to enter the underground control center. The tour begins and ends at the entry gate to the Delta-01 compound. The Control Center Tour lasts thirty minutes. Reservations can be made on-line or by phone at 86. To fully experience the park, you should visit all three sites.īeginning in October 2016, all tours of the Delta-01 Launch Control Facility require advanced reservations and an amenity fee. The two historic sites which make up the park are four miles (Launch Control Facility Delta-01) and 15 miles (Launch Facility Delta-09) from the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is located immediately north of I-90, exit 131. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is located at three sites along a fifteen mile stretch of Interstate 90 in western South Dakota.
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