Minuteman Missile National Historic Site - Facilities

Facilities

This National Historic Site consists of three facilities: a main office and two significant Cold War-era sites, a launch control center and a missile silo/launch facility, formerly operated by the 66th Strategic Missile Squadron of the 44th Strategic Missile Wing, headquartered at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota. The facilities represent the only remaining intact components of a nuclear missile field that once consisted of 150 Minuteman II missiles, 15 launch-control centers, and covered over 13,500 square miles (34,964.8 km2) of southwestern South Dakota.

The silo, known as launch facility Delta Nine (D-09) was constructed in 1963. It occupies 1.6 acres (6,000 m2) nearly one-half mile (800 m) southwest of Interstate 90 at Exit 116 and six miles (10 km) from the town of Wall, South Dakota, in eastern Pennington County. It consists of an underground launch tube ("missile silo") 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter and 80 feet (24.4 m) deep, made of reinforced concrete with a steel-plate liner. An unarmed missile is on display inside. The launch tube's 110-ton cover has been rolled partly away and welded to the rails it rides on. The launch tube was then covered with a glass viewing enclosure. Not only does this permit visitors to see the missile, it means Russian satellites are able to verify that the site is not operational, and hence in compliance with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Because the only way to get to the underground part of the site is by a ladder 20 feet (6.1 m) long, tours are not conducted underground for safety reasons. Visitors can conduct self-guided tours of the site during the day by calling a number on their cell phones and walking around the site, listening to the description of various points over the phone.

The launch control facility, known as Delta One (D-01), is about 10.5 miles (16.9 km) away, to the east-southeast in northwestern Jackson County. It occupies approximately six acres (24,000 m2) about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) north of I-90 at Exit 127. It consists of an above-ground building containing a kitchen, sleeping quarters, offices and life-support equipment. Below this building is the actual launch control center, buried 31 feet (9.4 m) deep, connected to the building by an elevator. Guided tours are conducted underground here, but are limited to six people at a time due to the very small underground launch control center ("capsule") and are a half-hour long. Self-guided tours are not possible here; the gate for the fence around D-01 is always locked, just like it was when it was an active launch control facility.