I’m in North Dakota, visiting the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site.  It’ a real (retired) Minuteman control silo. It’s one of several Minuteman sites that were closed down under the START treaty ICBM limits.

A giant freight elevator takes you down 52 feet to the command level, then there is a 7 ton blast door leading into the armored command capsule, mounted on giant shock absorbers.  The original command consoles are intact.  Please don’t press any buttons.

It was fun to visit the launch controls, but, unlike with my visits to the Titan Missile Museum or the Pervomaisk SS24 museum, they don’t let you simulate a launch.  But this one definitely scores extra credit for being a museum representative of the many still-active Minuteman Missile sites in the Mid-West, which are still very much alive, manned, and ready for service.  Gulp.