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Nuclear silo pizza delivery11/19/2023 The control facility is small, with room for only 2 people to sit down. We, however, were on a short tour, and went almost immediately into the control facility itself. Outside the actual control center itself is a small, dank locker room where I believe the longer tours learn more about the facility and how everything worked. From here we rode an ancient elevator (NOT OCEA approved!) down to the underground control facility. We went into the fenced enclosure and then into the main building. In the building above the control facility So, we arrived early, and some of our group (those of us who really wanted to see it) were the first tour of the day. However, on the way home, it just so happened that they were having a kind of open house, where they would give many short tours of the control facility, instead of the usual 1 or 2 long tours. Also, our group was too big to fit into a single tour.) So, we drove on. (To tell the truth, we hadn’t planned on going to South Dakota (our original destination was Kentucky, but the weather report was better for SD), so we hadn’t made reservations for the tour. We got to the visitor center just before they closed for the day, but they didn’t have a tour open for us the next day. However, on a trip to South Dakota in 2008 we decided to stop by. We knew about the park as we’d seen signs and asked about it in the early 2000s, but were told that there wasn’t anything there. It was eventually handed over to the National Park Service, and became a national historical site in 1999. The US decided that this missile and control facility were the one that they would keep, although it was only one of 150 nukes and several control facilities in western South Dakota. When the peace treaties were finally signed, one of the agreements was that each side could keep one missile and for historical purposes to teach future generations about the Cold War. Unfortunately, there is now a fee charged for the tour of the control facility (6/16).ĭuring the Cold War, both the US and the USSR stockpiled nuclear weapons, in hopes that one of us would scare the other into surrendering, or at least not using our weapons against the other. For more information, please see the national park web site at When you sign up for the tour, they will give you directions as how to get to each site. The actual missile site is open to the public 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday May, September, and October, and Monday through Saturday during the summer months. Currently (6/10), 1 tour of the control facility is offered each day during the winter, season, and 2 tours each day are offered during the summer season. The center is open from 8 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Saturday during the summer season (Memorial Day through Labor Day) and Monday through Friday the rest of the year (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years). You can also sign up for tours of the control facility. In here, you can learn about the Minuteman Missile, the Cold War, and why the National Park Service has possession of the missile and control facility. There is a small gas station (Conoco) on the left (if you’re traveling west) side of the highway, with a small building next to it. The park visitor center is located off of I-90 at the same exit as Badlands National Park (exit 131). Together, these make up the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in western South Dakota. An actual missile is located a few miles west on I-90. Today, this control facility is a historic site, established by the National Park System. Instead, this is the underground control facility from which a nuclear missile could be sent to the USSR during the Cold War…“in 30 minutes or less, or your next one is free”. No, this isn’t a pizza parlor, nor is any kind of food served here. Underneath the sign is the logo of Domino’s Pizza. “World-wide delivery in 30 minutes or less, or your next one is free” reads the sign on the door. In the underground control facility at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
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