Titan Museum Visit

We thought we would do something a little different today and visit a museum in the area.  So we drove down Interstate 19 toward Mexico.  Interesting, I-19 is measured in kilometres I guess because it goes right into Mexico at Nogales.

30 km down the highway we got off for the Titan Missile Museum at Green Valley.  Most of you "youngins" don't remember the Cuban Missile Crisis nor much about the cold war with the Soviet Union.  The Titan missile here (there were 18 of them here), and 36 others in 2 other locations in the U.S., were deterrents to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union that was a major concern in the 1960s.

This is the only site left where you can see one of these missiles (unarmed).

These darn signs are everywhere!

This is a picture of our tour guide in the white helmet, and on the right is a gigantic door.  There were 4 such doors to get in.  Each one had to be closed before another could be opened.  I think he said the door weighed 6,000 pounds (3 tons).

This sign below means 2 people had to be in certain locations at all times.  One, because it was easy to get hurt, and two, in case someone had a bad idea about something.

This was the control room from which the missile would be launched, if necessary.  Thankfully, it was not necessary.  It did its job just being here.

And here's Gerard at the controls.  Yikes!

Here's a shot of the missile from inside the silo.  Just the top part of it, of course.

These suits were worn when handling the fuels.  Very toxic.

This is looking down on the missile from the window on top.  Of course it's all closed in now, but it could be opened, if necessary to launch.

This was the security jeep used in case someone breached the property in one way or another.

Not sure what this was beside the parking lot area, but it said "danger, radiation" next to it.  Hmmmm.

Close to Green Valley are mega copper mines.  They're groomed nicely near the roadways.  Arizona is the largest producer of copper in the U.S.

We finished off the day with our street happy hour, enjoyed by all.