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US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

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Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#41

Post by jp191919 »

ucarion wrote: post #8
ck2 wrote: post #5

I sure hope they are testing the people better now. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/13/us-air-force-m... https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Professionalism/Cheating_Scand... https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/high-marks-cooks-lifted-... Also the missiles themselves are failing testing: https://www.airandspaceforces.com/icbm-test-failure-nuclear-... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68355395 Why again do we have thou…

The US has 400 land-based nuclear weapons, not thousands upon thousands. They're there to be a better thing for our enemies to aim at than our cities.

Not a launch site, but the largest stockpile of deployed nukes in the world is in a heavily populated area near seattle.

https://truthout.org/articles/puget-sound-is-home-to-the-big...

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#42

Post by jabits »

swozey wrote: post #24

What's inside of the locked down door? Is that just the main door in? I'm assuming that hallway is the museum. And what is on the map with the circles? Is that a geographical map or some sort of system map? And what shock do the Shock Isolators stop? Shock from a launch?

The launch center you see is a square box about the size of an RV suspended by four large “shock absorbers” inside a hardened capsule with walls about six feet thick. The shock absorbers are so the launch center can sway in the event of a NuDet (nuclear detonation) near by. Unlike the older Titans, the Minuteman missiles were nowhere near the capsules, being a minimum of three miles away. Each capsule had direct command and control of 10 Minuteman missiles distributed in a spoke like fashion around the hub (capsule). The Titans crew was right with their massively larger missiles.

I was a Launch Control Officer for five years in the mid-80s out of FE Warren AFB in Cheyenne WY. My squadron was the 320th Strategic Missile Squadron with all 5 capsules and 50 missiles were physically in western NE, with the furthest over 100 miles away in Sidney NE. I spent 335 days underground over the 5 year period.

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#43

Post by eternauta3k »

themagician wrote: post #19

Whenever I see things like this I think it's so cool, but it's always followed by this weird feeling that lasts a few hours where all I can think about is, "What have we done?" Why does destruction come to easy to us? Why has it always been a prioirty?

Coordination is hard?

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#44

Post by tshtf »

captainkrtek wrote: post #17

This video shows a bit more in action step by step: https://youtu.be/HWZXinRwCaE?feature=shared

I watched this one recently, and was going to share it here. I'm not in the field, but this looks like a nice demo of the current launch systems UX, unlike the tens that are dated to the early 80s.

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#45

Post by jabits »

This is a remarkably real view of the Minuteman Launch Control Center in the early to mid-80s for sure. The accompanying audio is realistic as well except all six comm systems would be blaring at once and several printers would be clacking away… It was very intense, demanding job.

I was a Launch Control Officer for five years in the mid-80s out of FE Warren AFB in Cheyenne WY. My squadron was the 320th Strategic Missile Squadron with all 5 capsules and 50 missiles were physically in western NE, with the furthest over 100 miles away in Sidney NE. I spent 335 days underground over the 5 year period.

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#47

Post by ipdashc »

NegativeLatency wrote: post #33
jrockway wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to destroy everyone else is what prevents them from destroying us. Something I think about and feel bad about is the "nuclear sponge". Why do we have a bunch of ICBMs in the midwest? So that if someone wants to nuke NYC, they have to nuke the Great Plains first, or face total destruction. Makes nuclear war that much more expensive. Of course, it's kind of an outdated assumption that that alone would be eno…

I think I'd prefer to go instantly in a moment via nuke than say burn to death in one of the many firebombing raids the US did on Japan during WWII: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo_(10_March_194... > More than 90,000 and possibly over 100,000 Japanese people were killed, mostly civilians, and one million were left homeless, making it the most destructive single air attack in human history.

I know you didn't mean it literally, but it's still worth saying: They did not "go instantly in a moment". A few, sure. I'd assume most of them probably still burned to death, or were buried under rubble, or bled out after being cut by debris, or starved to death after being blinded.

Firebombing is bad, but nukes are also really bad, there's no need to treat them as if they're merciful.

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#48

Post by dpifke »

graupel wrote: post #38

I live fairly close to the wonderful museum this is located at on Hill Air Force Base north of SLC. This new exhibit is really neat but not very big, all things considered, and not worth the trip on its own. What is worth the trip is the museum as a whole, with an F-117, the only SR-71C in existence, an F22, and all kinds of other planes and rockets - it's not Wright-Patterson, but it's one of the better USAF museums…

The museum at Edwards AFB in California is amazing[0], but is located on the base so you have to get prior permission to visit it as a civilian.

When I was there a few years back, they were fundraising to move the museum to a more publicly accessible location. It looks like that was successful, and it will be re-opening soon: https://www.desertnews.com/news/article_c95e0a2c-edc4-11ed-9...

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Flight_Test_Museum#C...

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#49

Post by jabits »

chihuahua wrote: post #39
bragr wrote: post #3

I can help but think the missileers would be less depressed (it's a known problem) if some more attention was paid to aesthetics and comfort, given the amount of time they spent locked in there.

I don't know if there's a worse peacetime job in the military than sitting in a missile silo every day. At least for me, it seems absolutely dreadful, sitting there all day every day.

Indeed it can be. There was a lot of action in the O club in one’s off days. We oftentimes thought however that these a-launch crews probably had it worse, except at least it would be more quiet without all the active comm systems. And since we were always “alert” we took part in many, many global military exercises…

Re: US ICBM Launch Center Virtual Tour

#50

Post by choeger »

jabits wrote: post #45

This is a remarkably real view of the Minuteman Launch Control Center in the early to mid-80s for sure. The accompanying audio is realistic as well except all six comm systems would be blaring at once and several printers would be clacking away… It was very intense, demanding job. I was a Launch Control Officer for five years in the mid-80s out of FE Warren AFB in Cheyenne WY. My squadron was the 320th Strategic Miss…

Considering that when the launch order came, MAD had probably already failed: Would you have obeyed the order and killed a few million people?
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