Hagen Brothers farms,Goodrich ND | Brother and I cut back some on acres farmed this year, now are able to take more one day road trips to look at things we enjoy.
Today we had a look at a good one before it shuts down for the season. Hopped in the little Prius and drove the 100 miles to see this thing.
The ND historical Society has worked out a unique deal with the Air Force, They were able to buy an intact
( including airman's discarded sneakers in the closet :-) but deactivated Minuteman missile control center(Oscar 0) and a unmanned Munteman missile site (November 33) that are setup for public display.
http://history.nd.gov/historicsites/minutemanmissile/
I have driven by a still active control center and many active missile sites in the area east of Minot for 40 years, always wondered what is inside and below, today we got a guided tour. :-)
You get a guided tour of the control center that could launch 10 missiles,
We got to see the above ground portion containing the security and living quarters and got to ride down the elevator, 50 ft into the ground to the two watermelon shaped , 4 ft thick steel and concrete chambers that house the missile launch room and the mechanical room containing the big diesel generator and all mechanical and electrical systems that support the launch room. Interesting to walk through those open 30 ton blast doors into the launch chamber, where everything in that room is suspended on 4 huge hydraulic springs to protect it from a nearby missile hit.
Interesting to look at the launch controls, Brother and I got to operate that launch system on a simulator at the Northern Neighbors day at the Minot AFB years ago, so I know what a creepy feeling it is to twist those keys that would allow launching the missiles.
At the unmanned missile site, you can walk around inside the fence and look at all the surface stuff, the huge missile silo door and access hatches. No guided tour here, but lots of signs posted to tell and show you what was / is below ground.
Most of those sites had the silo imploded and left open for a while to let the rusky satellites look at them, then filled in. I don't know if this one was not destroyed, or if it was blown up and the surface stuff restored to it's original look.
We were the only ones at the missile site today, so got to satisfy a fantasy I have had for many years, to walk up to the missile site fence, shake the heck out of it and yell " hey, anybody home ", then not have to worry about running like heck before the security guys arrive with their M16's.
Was a lot of fun on a cool foggy day.
Edited by Jon Hagen 10/25/2010 16:48
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Fun road trip today.
