Posts Tagged With: Titan Missle Museum

Green Valley, AZ. Wednesday May 23

The inoperable Titan II missile

Arizona is a major mining state, this we knew coming in. We did not know that there had been 18 Titan II missile sites ringing Tucson AZ. Missile sites in ND, SD, Nebraska, etc. we knew about previously. Arizona missile sites are a new piece of information that we learned today at the Titan Missile Site Museum just south of Tucson. There were a similar number of sites around Little Rock, Arkansas and around Wichita Kansas. The tour takes 75 minutes and includes a visit to the missile silo and command room.

Our docent at the command center at Titan Missile Museum

The site was built in 1963 and de-commissioned in 1984. Successful efforts to make it a museum began right at the time of the de-commissioning efforts. The museum includes a real missile unable to fly and a dummy warhead, along with the original control center and mechanical equipment. As part of the nuclear de-armament process, we have to make de-commissioned missile sites available to be inspected by Russians as non-operational. Thus, the warhead has a window in it to show it was disarmed and the silo cover is permanently made inoperable.

Our tour discussed the construction of the silo and command center, with details on the redundancy of fail-safe systems, the ability to withstand nuclear strikes near-by, the protection from intruders, etc. The Titan II missile was extremely powerful and when de-commissioning occurred, the remaining missiles were removed and have been used to send up communications satellites and to send some of the early space exploration efforts.

Just minutes from the missile museum is a mining museum run by ASARCO, a huge U.S. mining company owned by a Mexican company. Kind of ironic, we took Arizona from Mexico and Spain who were seeking gold and other minerals. Spaniards did not find it in the 1500s to 1700s, not until the mid to late 1800s was mineral wealth discovered in Arizona. Now the minerals are being mined by a Mexican company.

The ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center only offers mine tours on Saturdays at this time of the year but exhibits and films explain the mining process and necessity. Certainly the films are presented from the company viewpoint, I can not accurately evaluate their true safety and environmental actions and record. I came away with two major points.

A wall map of the Mission mine site by Green Valley

First, the mine here in Green Valley-Sahuarita is massive, a conglomeration of several previous mines that are now one big mine. The mine goes two miles long and 1.75 miles wide. The reclaimed mine-related area stretching along I-19 seems to me to stretch over 20 miles. ASARCO has two other, large mines in Arizona.

Second, the world needs minerals which only come from mining. If we expect to construct buildings, to use electronics,to eat nutritiously, than mining has to occur. Not stated at the ASARCO museum, but self-evident, is our society has to determine under what conditions and at what cost that mining occurs.

Madera Canyon

By now it was time for a late lunch, which we satisfied at Manuel’s Mexican restaurant. After lunch, we drove to Madera Canyon, a well-known part of the Coronado National Forest. There are trails and picnic tables in a shady canyon with a (today at least) dry creek. Madera Canyon is a well-known birding location with birders from around the nation coming here. It was a warm afternoon and we took short hikes and did some bird-watching before returning to our Evergreen hosts.

Ed and Chris. May 23