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7DaysOfRain — On the shoulders of titans
Published: 2006-07-05 13:01:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 634; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 7
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For about 25 years of the cold war, the heavyweight part of NATO's nuclear deterrence force literally lay on the shoulders of Titans.This is the last of it's kind, the Titan II ICBM 'Vehicle N-10' of Site 571-7 in Arizona - now a museum, open to the public.
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Comments: 8
A truly unique place to visit.
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is the nuclear warhead still attached as part of the museum? that would make for an intimidating museum, I think. Great pic!!
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No, but the fuel of these things would be my greater concern. Aerozine 50 and Nitrogentetroxide. Toxic, corrosive and explode when mixed.
In September 1980, one Titan II experienced a fuel leak that subsequently led to it's explosion in the silo. The 740 ton silo door was later found 750 feet away, the warhead survived basically intact.
But the missile on display was never fueled, it was only used for ground tests and never fielded.
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Imagine if the warhead didn't survive...would basically amount to an accidental underground nuclear test.
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Worse, because the silo is only a few meters below ground, not hundreds like in underground tests.
And the W 53 warhead is a beast. The largest one ever officially used by the USA. The yield was never disclosed but lies between 5 and 10 megatons. But fortunately it is quite complicated to start an thermonuclear explosion, plus the warheads have all kinds of safety locks until they get armed. Like the correct code must be provided, the warhead must have experienced the acceleration of the launch followed by zero gravity, etc...
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yep, a common myth is that you can set off a nuke by hitting it or dropping it, but thats simply not true, the trigger mechanism and everything used to detonate it needs to be soooo exact...Nice angle in the pic!
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