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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 2004.PDF
808 Norf Dakota; Whiteman AFB, Missouri; Francis E. Warren AJ|",^Wyoming; and Grand Forks AFB, a second Minuteman corolex in North Dakota. Note that the bases are all located in theparsely populated northern states, to give a range advantage on ;north-easterly trajectory. The policy of concurrency demands thatvork on construction sites proceeds over the whole programme at te same time, and not a single base at a time. Lauch Control Ech flight of ten missiles is governed from one launch-control cente. A Minuteman launch-control facility is hidden under ground, and topped on the surface by a group of buildings that could easily pass as a farm. Most farms, however, do not have high cyclone fences around a two-acre area and stringent security precau tions against intruders. The buildings are home for the Missile Combat Crew, consisting of three air police, two cooks and two launch-control officers, who control ten Minuteman ICBMs sitting miles away in their holes, silently and alone. On entering the comfortable living room, backed by a stainless- steel kitchen equipped to feed a mob, missiles and deterrence seem far away. Access to the underground control is made via a lift tucked away in a small room on the side of the building. All the elaborate air-conditioning equipment for the installation is also FLIGHT International, 14 November 196?. Since Minuteman has been designed for exceptional reliability, with its vital equipment (such as the guidance package) running all the time, automatic monitoring provisions have been made to enable the launch officers to watch the launch status of each missile without moving from their chairs in the capsule. When a fault shows up on the control console, the troublesome silo can be interrogated and a voice fault-recording system (called VERSA: voice reporting signal assembly) announces the trouble for the benefit of the interested technician without the latter having to leave the launch capsule. At present 40 channels covering key fault areas are connected to each missile, and six are spare. The voice system—using, alas, a man's vocal organs—is derived from the similar idea used on the B-58. It is not the responsibility of a launch-control officer to run down maintenance difficulties for missile technicians. His labours are more simple; and, incidentally, are considered "cushy" compared with many other SAC duties. One piece of elaborate equipment is particularly worthy of comment. The physical needs of the two launcher crew cannot be neglected, as their lowly human discomfort would undoubtedly ruin any operation; but space in the capsule is very limited. Solution to the problem is the most remarkable combination of toilet, lavatory and drinking fountain we have seen. Minutemen will one day become redundant; at that time, surely the greatest prize to be Left, two Strategic Air Command officers, launch crew for a Minute- man flight at Malmstrom AFB, pictured during their shift in the hardened launch-control capsule. In the background is the master control panel displaying the status of each missile in the flight (on alert, under test or in need of correction). Right, two Boeing technicians test the electronic sup port equipment in one of the Malmstrom silos. All this equip ment is shock-mounted and pro tected by many feet of earth and concrete; but there has lately been pressure in the US Senate for an investigation to determine its vul nerability to electromagnetic radia tion from large thermonuclear explosions housed in this building. After exiting at the bottom of the lift shaft, 60ft to 80ft underground depending on the terrain, further progress into the control room is barred by a massive eight-ton door. When the door is open, the control-room capsule is "soft." This fact was brought home to the visiting group when, on four occasions over as many hours, all visitors were unceremoniously bundled out of the capsule and the great door closed each time that SAC went on strategic alert. Facetious questioning, about whether headquarters were having fun with a new toy, was met with grim silence; not just the missiles but the whole of SAC was alerted, and no one in SAC takes an alert of any kind lightly. The control room itself is a relatively small affair, roughly 12ft by 20ft, with the entire floor floating on four hydraulic shock isolators and packed with transistorized electronics. Two control consoles, one for the launch officer and the other for his assistant, present ten vertical rows of lights. Only two are worth noting: STRATEGIC ALERT and, underneath it, FAULTY. If the FAULTY light is on, a no-go condition exists for that particular missile. Signals flowing through miles of pressurized cable feed into the launch control capsule indicating the status of each of its ten missiles. A security violation on any of the lonely sites shows up as a warning on the consoles, triggering an immediate swirl of Air Police activity. A strike force tears out to find out what is going on, and repulse the invaders—who so far have all been large birds. carried from the capsule will be this compact marvel of American ingenuity. The degree of hardening is such that, with walls 5ft thick, the capsule will survive anything but a direct hit from a nuclear weapon. Should the door be blocked, provision has been made for the crew to escape to the surface through a large sand-filled tube. Of course, all the sand flows into the silo when someone at the bottom pulls the plug out. A 12hr oxygen supply for the two men inside (all the others are left to perish) can be stretched to two weeks by using a potassium-oxide regenerative set. This system absorbs carbon dioxide as it gives out fresh oxygen. As for any potential human emergency, we throw in survival equipment; but the world into which the dazed missilemen would emerge will not be attractive. Currently, the launch-control officers are given something to think about, other than survival in a disaster, by studying to advance themselves. During the tour of duty the young volunteer officers are encouraged to study for advanced degrees in the "Minuteman Educational Programme." Since they already possess batchelor degrees in science to qualify for their jobs, they study three years for the master's degree offered by the Air Force Institute of Technology. The 12hr work-load in the capsule, followed by 24hr off, does not strain anything except the imagination; so it can be imagined that quite a few bright young men will benefit from otherwise deadly monotonous duty.
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