The Cold War (1947-1991) was a time when huge intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch facilities were built.<\/p>\n
In 1955 the United States launched the Titan program to develop a multi-stage ICBM. The result was the HGM-25A Titan I ICBM. As I told you last summer<\/a>, between 1960 and 1961 five underground launch centers were built for these missiles<\/strong> in Larson AFB Air Force Base, Washington; Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota; Beale AFB, California; and Lowry AFB, Colorado. Each launch center had three large silos to launch as many missiles.<\/strong> These facilities were colossal in size and housed only 9 people.<\/p>\n The Titan I had a short life: their withdrawal from service was completed in 1965, not even 4 years after their deployment.<\/strong> They were replaced by more modern missiles, the Titan II and the Minuteman I. The Titan I were missiles of a certain size: they were 22.9 meters tall, so they needed quite large underground silos<\/strong>. Each missile had to be ready to launch within 15 minutes. After receiving the launch order, the missile was loaded with liquid oxygen and RP-1 fuel. Then, the missile was raised to the surface using an elevator for launch.<\/strong><\/p>\n The missile ascended through two stages to a height of 241 kilometers. Then, the vehicle carrying the nuclear warhead rose up to 870 km above the earth's surface<\/strong>, and then made its re-entry following a ballistic trajectory to its target. The forecast was that it would cover up to 8,850 km to its objective, reaching it in 33 minutes. It would have been a war that would have started and ended in just over half an hour.<\/strong><\/p>\n A few days ago, the Youtube channel Nuclear Bunker Living<\/a> published a video exploring one of the gigantic silos, now abandoned, of a Titan I missile:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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