While the rest of the family heading to the airport early in the morning, Kristen and I drove east towards the
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and
Badlands National Park for a bit of exploration. the missile site is a fairly new part of the NPS system and only open for a few times during the week.
We first stopped by the Delta-09 launch silo that was used as a training site and never held a nuclear weapon during the 30 years the other silos were on alert during the
Cold War. I really enjoyed hearing about some of the history of the program, technical accomplishments, and respect/appreciation/fear of the destructive capabilities.
We then headed over the the launch control complex to take a tour of the facilities. This is the surface building for the support personal that operated, secured, and maintained the area Minuteman nuclear missile silos. The launch controls were about 30 feet underground in order to protect from near-nuclear strikes. It was neat to see the actual launch controls that would have been used to initiate a devestating strike had the order ever been given.
The next stop was Badlands as we drove the park and stopped at the vistas (with a couple of hikes) to take in the great views. The area kind of reminded me of Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks in Utah. Outside of one hour-long hike, it was a bit too hot to really hit many trails since they mostly tended to be long out-and-back or cross country trails. After getting back to the city we relaxed in the the small water park at the hotel and caught up on some rest and reading for the remainder of the evening.
While the rest of the family heading to the airport early in the morning, Kristen and I drove east towards the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and Badlands National Park for a bit of exploration. the missile site is a fairly new part of the NPS system and only open for a few times during the week. 
We first stopped by the Delta-09 launch silo that was used as a training site and never held a nuclear weapon during the 30 years the other silos were on alert during the Cold War. I really enjoyed hearing about some of the history of the program, technical accomplishments, and respect/appreciation/fear of the destructive capabilities. 
We then headed over the the launch control complex to take a tour of the facilities. This is the surface building for the support personal that operated, secured, and maintained the area Minuteman nuclear missile silos. The launch controls were about 30 feet underground in order to protect from near-nuclear strikes. It was neat to see the actual launch controls that would have been used to initiate a devestating strike had the order ever been given.
The next stop was Badlands as we drove the park and stopped at the vistas (with a couple of hikes) to take in the great views. The area kind of reminded me of Bryce Canyon and Cedar Breaks in Utah. Outside of one hour-long hike, it was a bit too hot to really hit many trails since they mostly tended to be long out-and-back or cross country trails. After getting back to the city we relaxed in the the small water park at the hotel and caught up on some rest and reading for the remainder of the evening.
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