But the effects of the explosion and working with the potentially toxic fuel linger for many of the airmen who were on site. On Feb. 6, 1963, the first Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile assigned to the 308th Strategic Missile Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base arrived. The second fuel tank, sitting just above the first, contained a different fuel that could spontaneously ignite if a collapse occurred and it came into contact with the aerozine 50 already in the launch duct. We spent the next 300 miles trying to shoo flies out of interior of our vehicle. A concussion of wind hit me like a truck, and I slid 60 feet, and every foot, it felt like I was going faster. I enjoyed a cup of coffee in the master suite thanks to the in-room coffee bar and read a few more chapters. These ICBMs were fueled with Aerozine 50, which allowed the fuel to stay in the missile while stored in its silo. Missiles were programmed with three potential targets. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. The Titan II ICBM Missile Silo 374-7 Site, located west of U.S. 65, 1.7 miles north of intersection with Arkansas Highway 124 near Southside in Van Buren County, is nationally significant by virtue of its unique and exceptionally important history within the Titan II program: it was the site of a September 1980 accident that severely damaged . Possibly a fuel leak. The Titan II's earth-shattering payload was 30 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. Launch Complex 374-7 was located in Bradley Township, Van Buren County farmland just 3.3 miles (5.3km) NNE of Damascus, and approximately 50 miles (80km) north of Little Rock.[3][4]. The Strategic Air Command facility of Little Rock Air Force Base was one of eighteen silos in the command of the 308th Strategic Missile Wing (308th SMW), specifically one of the nine silos within its 374th Strategic Missile Squadron (374th SMS), at the time of the explosion. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. A look inside Level 2 of the Titan Ranch in Vilonia, a decommissioned Titan II nuclear missile facility, featuring two-queen sized beds and a spiral staircase. I retreated upstairs to enjoy the incredible shower in the master suite and stayed up entirely too late reading a book in bed. The following is a list of active missiles of the United States military. The missile not only survived the explosion in 1965, it was the same missile which exploded in 1980 near Damascus. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Theres a unique history surrounding Little Rock, Arkansas that you may not know about. "So you work on things when you can. Crews of four men would work 24-hour shifts, followed by 24 hours off. But we dealt with hydrazine [the fuel] and nitrogen tetroxide [the oxidizer] every day. A far more deadly disaster struck a Titan launch site near Searcy in White County on Aug. 9, 1965, resulting in the deaths of 53 men. Is Russias Only Aircraft Carrier Cursed? "You didn't know if it was going to Cuba or if it was going to Moscow," Hill said. Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere, the two were ordered to evacuate. Three years later the Pangburn launch site was rocked by an explosion which killed 53 of the 55 contract workers doing maintenance work. Due to the safety features built into the warhead, it did not detonate and was recovered about 300 feet away from the explosion. If the Soviets had missiles, then the Americans needed them, too. We drove past these remnants of the cold war toward Brush, Colorado where we intended to stop at a small lake near Brush just off of the highway and have our picnic. Once through the blast doors, visitors enter Level 2, which is the former operations center where the officers would initiate the order to launch the ICBM. You can see the locations of all silos on the ICBM History page. The silos launch door was propelled over 600 feet from the launch complex. I said, We just left a bunch of dead people back there. He said Yeah, I know. We were sick about it. Meanwhile, as a countermeasure, the silo was filling with water to douse potential flames and dilute the vapor. We always take Highway 71 South taking us through Kimball, Nebraska and Limon, Colorado coming out at Highway 25 at Trinidad, Colorado. Warren Air Force Base oversees ICBM fields that cover parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. The united states built many missile silos in the midwest, away from populated areas. But now, the socket fell all the way down the missile shaft66 feetbounced off the shaft mount ring, and hit the side of the missile, puncturing its eighth-inch hull. The land is now under private ownership. For a minute, it was the same deal as an A-bomb. But Peters realized it wasnt a nuclear explosion, because he had time to think. The PTS crew stayed at the site as an investigative crewDevlin, Rex Hukle, David Livingston, and Jeffrey K. Kennedyarrived. Find out more at KSMitchell.com. While these missiles were retired in 1987, the company that made them, Martin-Marietta (by then Lockheed Martin) took them back and reconditioned them for space use. So the Titans stayed in placeand demonstrated time and again their peril. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Why Russian Hybrid Warfare Failed in Ukraine, Meet the E-7 Wedgetail, the Air Forces New Plane, Report: Pilot Error Ruined a $112 Million F-35 Jet. There are no windows in the space and no inclination that the sun had retreated and the moon was up. It has been painstakingly restored by GT Hill. Accepted file types: jpg, png, Max. Suddenly the flies began to land on everything and in the process they flew by the hundreds into the back of our SUV. His 4-year-old great-granddaughter held the calf in the passenger seat, trying to hug it back to . Titan Ranch, located at 23 Missile Base Road in Vilonia, Arkansas, offers renters the chance to spend a night underground in a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) facility. There are 1,000 kilotons in a megaton). But somethinglater determined to be an elevator malfunctionwent wrong. Despite the criticism, the U.S. appears to be committed to the idea of a nuclear sponge in those five states. Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) systems were . King remembers sitting on the hood of a sheriffs car, aimlessly slipping his shoes on and off. By comparison, a house my be blown down by 5 psi of pressure, he said. Say what? A piece of Cold War history is now available as an Airbnb property.. Titan Ranch, located at 23 Missile Base Road in Vilonia, Arkansas, offers renters the chance to spend a night underground in a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) facility.The facility was one of 18 underground Titan II missile silos in Arkansas that helped form the backbone of the United States' nuclear . I can recall vividly the September 1980 explosion which destroyed a missile in its silo located near Damascus on the Faulkner-Van Buren County line. Investigations including a congressional inquiry delved into the Damascus tragedy. He was the first Native American ever inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2007. Basically, you crawl 10 feet and then it's a 50-foot ladder," Hill said. Thats why a Propellant Transfer System (PTS) crew was in the silo in the early evening of September 18, 1980, at the end of a long day, pressurizing the fuel tank of the missile (which, in a morbid coincidence, was the same one that 15 years earlier was in the silo that caught fire). Titan II rockets were adapted to use in the space program and launched the first Gemini manned missions in the early 1960s. A civilian crew was working throughout all nine floors of the missile silo, which plunged 150 into the ground. As my stepdaughter Sarah, a rodeo girl, used to say about the distance between Rapid City and Faith, South Dakota when asked the distance, "About as far as you can drive and 20 miles more." Fuel vapor started to fill the silo. 40 Years Ago, We Almost Blew Up Arkansas. After a half hourthey could only stay in the silo that long because of their oxygen tanksthey came back up. The first Titan II missile in Arkansas was installed in a silo near Searcy in 1963. During the 25-year period of operations, Arkansas experienced two disasters connected to the missiles. You have to try it to see what I mean. Of course, thats just as true on purpose as it is on accident. Little Rock, Conway, Searcy, Benton, Heber Springs, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Springdale, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, West Memphis, Batesville, Mountain View, Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Texarkana, Arkadelphia. From Level 2, visitors may climb a spiral staircase to Level 1which previously served as the crew's sleeping quarters and kitchen or descend to Level 3, which housed the communication equipment that kept the facility connected to the larger world. It was dank and smelled of fresh vomit. The Air Force refused to confirm or deny if a nuclear weapon was involved in the explosioneven to Vice President Walter Mondale, who was in Arkansas that day for the state Democratic convention, trying to help the states young governor, Bill Clinton, in a re-election bid. They were Titan II missile silos that housed nuclear weapons on a Gemini rocket, designed to be launched into space in under one minute. All the guys that walked down with their RHFCO suits, I just assumed they were all killed.. The air turned white and chunks of steel-reinforced concrete fell out of the sky after the fuel ignited. Copyright 2023, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Feeling very unwelcome we decided to try reaching Limon, Colorado, before dark. There do remain some active missile silos, in montana, north dakota, and at warren air force base, which is in both colorado and wyoming. Each of the mammoth doors can withstand 1,000 psi of pressure, Hill said.
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