Duck and Cover

 

How many of you remember that from your grade school years?  I’m glad to say that I don’t, being from a very rural area of the South, I guess we weren’t much of a target.  I do remember the news of Sputnik, and the announcement of larger and larger nuclear tests during the late fifties and early sixties.  Russian ICBM’s was something that the news reported on weekly, and the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction was the defense strategy of the time.

On Sunday, Wanda and I made a visit to the last surviving Titan II missle silo in the World.  All the other silos were destroyed in the eighties.  This one is located about twenty miles South of Tucson, and most everything appeared as it did in the sixties.

If you’re wondering about the Count; he is, or was, the chairman of the Arizona Aerospace Foundation, which has the Pima Air and Space Museum, as well as this facility.

Constructed in the early 1960’s, the silo was one of many, located in three states.  It was our answer to the Russian threat.  It housed a missle tipped with a hydrogen bomb, capable of destroying most any city unlucky enough to be it’s target. 

I loved all the old analog equipment.  You cell phone probably has more capability.

The latest communication equipment, also.

                                 

The SAFE.

One of the springs that supposedly isolated the control room from a direct hit.

I found it ironic that we put our name on the missle.  I doubt there would be anyone around to read it.

This is the engine that was capable of launching the missle over 45 miles high, and on it’s way to it’s target.

This little guy, about the size of a basketball, did the final adjusting on the target.

The pattern on the exhaust reminded me of Damascus steel.

After returning to the campground, and waiting on the sunset, I noticed this saquaro next to our site.  The sun made the spines look like neon.

Just another Arizona sunset.

On to New Mexico…jc