Phill Wallace

Friday, 07 December 2012

10026509

Titan Missile Museum Visitor Guide

The Titan Missile Museum, formerly ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) Silo 571-7 of the 390th Strategic Missile Wing, United States Air Force (USAF), is a hardened facility located some 15 miles south of Tucson, Arizona. Originally built as a tool of Armageddon it now serves as a museum educating new generations about the horrors (both real and imagined) of the Cold War.

About the Facility

ICBM Silo 571-7 was one of 54 Titan-II silos built across the United States to deter attack by the Russians. 18 silos were built around Tucson and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), with a further 18 near McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas and a final 18 near Little Rock AFB in Arkansas. 571-7 is the only remaining example and it showcases the Cold War mind-set. The facility comprises two main sections and the connecting cableways (concrete ducts allowing access for cables and personnel). The three-floor Launch Control Centre houses the command and control equipment needed to fire the missile whilst the eight-floor silo houses the weapon itself. On the surface are the hardened access portal and the silo doors, now permanently locked in a halfopen position. The main areas are built from steel-reinforced concrete walls up to eight feet thick whilst massive 3 tonne steel blast doors secure vital areas such as the control room. The silo itself houses a Titan-II ICBM, although this particular missile was used for training purposes and was never fuelled or armed. The warhead is the only noneauthentic piece of equipment in the silo: all of the original fuelling pumps remain on the lowest level, 43 metres below ground level. Visitors can walk around the upper levels, whilst access to the lowest areas is restricted to special tours that allow guests to stand directly under the missile.
1 - A view down the silo

Phill Wallace

Friday, 07 December 2012

10026509

Site History
Silo 571-7 was constructed in early to mid-1963 as one of 54 silos in Arizona, Kansas and Arkansas and was built to hold the Titan-II improved ICBM (known to the USAF as the LGM-25C). Within a matter of months, the site faced its highest alert. On November the 22nd 1963, in the hours following the assassination of President Kennedy, the US military high command was concerned that the shooting may have been the prelude to a Soviet attack. To quicken response times, missile crews 2 The red Key Safe in Launch Control, at left were ordered to remove their launch keys from the safe and have them ready at the consoles. Had a launch order been received, this could have shaved potentially a full minute off the already speedy launch procedure. Never before or since has such a step been taken. Fortunately for the world, it was soon realised it was not a Soviet attack and the keys were returned to their secure safe. Silo 571-7 continued to serve as a deterrent for almost twenty years. Along with the other eight silos near Davis-Monthan AFB, Silo 571-7 was kept on continuous alert throughout its service life (the other two missile bases were alerted as and when necessary). Consequently, had a nuclear attack ever occurred, Silo 571-7 and its fellows would have been the first to retaliate against the Soviet attacker. The facility was finally decommissioned in 1982 as part of President Reagans 1981 policy to eliminate the Titan-II missiles. This was not, as is commonly thought to be as a result of arms limitation treaties but rather as a modernisation program. The rockets were old and shown to be dangerous after a couple of fatal accidents occurred in the late seventies. The facility was closed down and was subsequently re-opened as a museum by the Arizona Aerospace Foundation; it became a National Historic Landmark on April the 19th, 1994. Since then it has gained considerable acclaim for its stark portrayal of the Cold War reality and has been used as a film set on several occasions, most notably in 1996 for the filming of Star Trek: First Contact where the Titan-II represented Mans first faster-than-light starship, the Phoenix.

The Missile and the Bomb

The Titan-II missile is a two-stage, twin-engine rocket built to deliver a single W53 nuclear warhead to targets up to 10,000 kilometres away. The rocket weighs in at 154 tonnes fully fuelled. It stands 31 metres tall and has a diameter of 3 metres. It was the successor to the similarly-sized but considerably less capable Titan-I.

Phill Wallace

Friday, 07 December 2012

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Both the first and second stage engines are powered by A-50 Hydrazine with dinitrogen tetroxide as an oxidiser. These liquid fuels have several advantages for missile engines: they are hypergolic (ignite on contact with each other), are non-toxic and are storable (remain liquid at close to room temperature), a major improvement on the Kerosene and liquid oxygen used in the Titan-I which required cryogenic storage tanks. In Silo 571-7 and its fellows in Arizona, the missiles were kept fuelled at all times (except for servicing) to allow a speedy launch if needed. Missiles at the other bases were kept unfuelled but could be fuelled rapidly by high-pressure pumps located in the base of the silo. In a real launch, the missile was capable of being ready to fire in just 58 seconds, making it comparable with later solid-fuelled missiles in terms of response time. After launch the first stage would burn for 156 seconds and then separate allowing the second stage to burn for a further 180 seconds. The missile RV (re-entry vehicle) would then separate after the missile was past apogee and proceed to its target on a ballistic path, eventually detonating in either an air or ground-burstdepending on target type. The missiles were capable of aiming at one of three pre-selected targets, which for security reasons were not known to the launch crews, who simply pressed a Target 1 or Target 3 button on their console. At the time of decommissioning, the missile was aimed at Target 2. Whilst the identity of the target remains classified, it can be assumed to be a Soviet missile base or other hardened military target since the warhead was (in this setting) fused for a ground burst which is only employed against such targets. The missile carried a single W53 nuclear warhead with a yield of 9 megatonnes, making it the second-largest warhead ever deployed by the United States. This weapon, equivalent to 450 Little Boy type bombs, would be capable of totally annihilating any above-ground structure within 6 kilometres. Within this radius there would be no survivors. Most civilian and industrial structures within 15 kilometres would be levelled. Although exposed humans would survive the blast wave they would not survive the thermal pulse or the flying debris without shelter. As far out as 29 kilometres humans would suffer third-degree burns from the flash. In context, were such a weapon detonated over the Millennium Stadium, everything out to Radyr station would be totally destroyed, and Treforest would be at the edge of the blast zone. If it were detonated over the Houses of Parliament, everything as far as Canary Wharf would be totally destroyed and anyone exposed within the M25 would suffer 3rd degree burns.

3 - Titan-II RV, housing W53 warhead

Phill Wallace

Friday, 07 December 2012

10026509

Miscellaneous and Summary

The museum is open year-round with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Opening hours are 0845-1600 with one-hour guided tours beginning at 0900. Walking shoes are required and hells, as well as food and drink, are prohibited. There is a dedicating smoking area available but smoking is not permitted beyond that area. As an added bonus non-commercial and private photography is both permitted and encouraged and there is a gift shop containing Cold War memorabilia including pieces of rebar salvaged from decommissioned silos and replica missile launch keys. The Museum offers visitors an incredible look at the front line of the Cold War. From tours and information displays to fascinating original equipment and a simulated launch, the museum is a must-see site for anyone with an interest in the history of this strange and terrifying conflict.

4 - The Harbinger of the Apocalypse