Minuteman Missile Protecting our Country

 During the Cold War, the plains of  South Dakota housed numerous control centers and Minuteman II Missile Silo Sites. Currently inactivated and mostly imploded, a few have been preserved as National Historical Sites. Just a stones throw from I-90, unsuspecting motorists pass right on by without a hint of the destructive capabilities within these buildings

  Delta-01
Underground Launch Control Center is secured by  this 3 foot thick Control Chamber access door.

Yup! if necessary, they could have delivered a 1.2 megaton warhead (equivalent to1 million tons of dynamite)  to Russia in just 30 minutes.

This  under ground control center is suspended on a system of  coil-spring shock absorbers. Allowing 2 feet of movement in either direction in the event of an attack.

Once inside this launch control center, not much to do but sit and wait out their 24 hours shift. No TV, no radio, no sleeping. There is a bed where one person at a time can rest briefly.  Food can be sent down from the kitchen up on the ground level floor.

If the order for a missile launch comes in, it must be activated by two separate keys and two separate codes. The 2 launch keys must be turned simultaneously and are 12 feet apart so no one person can launch a missile.

Delta-09 site  houses  the 1.2 megaton warhead Minuteman II missile(deactivated).  The silo is 80 feet deep and the warhead is 56 feet tall. Top speed of 15,000 mph when launched it will travel 6000 miles in just 30 minutes. The shortest and most direct route to Russia.
Minuteman II have been dismantled and deactivated  in compliance with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the USSR and the US.

However, we do have a smattering of Minuteman III missiles located through out the country standing ready should there be an attack on the U.S.