|
Visit to missile museum is a blast (not really!) From Out West #25 By Chuck Woodbury GREEN VALLEY, Ariz. -- This is the place to see a missile up close -- a huge Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile, America's premier Cold War weapon for nearly 20 years. It's in its original silo, in the desert a few minutes
At one time there were 52 Titan missile silos in America, 18 near Tucson. Now only one is left, this one, and it's been turned into the Titan Missile Museum — a swell exhibit that looks almost as it did between 1963 and 1982, when it protected us from the evil Soviets. For $7.50 (less for seniors and kids), you can take a one-hour guided tour deep into the silo. Four crew persons were stationed down here, ready at any moment to launch their 103-foot Titan II into space and then down onto Khrushchev's lap. Of course, they never did, but they could have. The tour takes you right into the control room, which looks downright archaic by today's standards. There are all sorts of push buttons, switches, gauges and light bulbs, but, frankly, my desktop computer looks more high-tech. The commander and his assistant had individual combinations to two padlocks on a red box that contained important launch instructions. "One crazy fellow couldn't break in and activate the vehicle," my guide said (unless, I thought, he had some Kmart bolt cutters). But there were plenty of other safeguards, too, making it nearly impossible for anyone but the crew to operate the vehicle (not a weapon - a "vehicle"). There was also a special electronic fence on the ground above. Anything over 80 pounds would be detected, and "the Air Police woul
The Titan II's first-stage engine is displayed near the silo. It was seven times more powerful than a single Boeing 747 engine. Together with the second stage engine, the vehicle could reach an altitude of a quarter million feet in just 2.5 minutes — about the same time as it would take the controllers to visit the john A nosecone is displayed nearby, but, thankfully, the weapon itself is gone. Actually, the entire missile complex has been modified so it can't work — the Russians insisted on this. Before the missile was placed in the launch duct it was left on the ground for thirty days with holes cut in. Other modifications were made that could be verified by satellite observation. The nosecone, by the way, is about the size of a Winnebago, but pointed at one end and without headlights. The silo is more than 100 feet deep. The sides have sound absorbers so that during a launch the roar wouldn't shake the missile to death. A 100,000 gallon water tank is also underground. Its water would be released during a blast-off to cool things off so the Titan wouldn't melt. A melted missile would be worthless — like a Yugo, for example. Everything important thing, big or small, in the silo is on springs — floors, ceilings, radio systems, control panels, generators, automatic coffee makers. So, even if the enemy sent a nuke over first and it landed nearby, the whole shebang —missile, crew and control stuff — would just bounce harmlessly like a tetherball, but nothing would break - except maybe a few light bulbs (no problem: the crew had flashlights). The missile was programed for a specific target, but it could be changed. A paper tape reader would be fed a special code, and the missile would then know whether to head east or north or wherever. Without these special instructions, the missile would be like a chicken with its head cut off — but a lot more dangerous because a chicken doesn't have a nuke on its neck. After the crew launched the vehicle, its mission would be accomplished. The crew persons would then await further instructions, which would basically boil down to "stay underground, put your heads between your (own) legs and pray, and if you go above ground, don't breathe." This is a terrific museum — one of the most unusual in the West — and ten times more interesting than your run-of-the-mill, nuke-free pioneer museum. To get there, take I-19 south from Tucson to exit 69 and follow the signs. For information or to make a reservation, call (520) 625-7736. TOUR SCHEDULE Nov. l - Apr. 30: Every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours: 9-5. ©2002 by Out West Newspaper. Photos courtesy of Titan Missile Museum.
Out West, 9792 Edmonds Way, #265-A, Edmonds, WA 98020. |
