On the 15th, members of HPM toured a
relic of Cold War history located west of Greeley in Weld County. One of the
few remaining Atlas nuclear missile silos from the ‘60’s has been preserved as
a combination museum and records storage facility for the City of Greeley and
Weld County.
Gary,
Pablo, Marty, Randy, Marc, George, Jeff, Michael, Chip, and Chris spent around two hours
inside the “coffin silo”, so named because the missile lies in its bunker in a
horizontal orientation before it is raised, fueled, and fired. In addition to
the missile bay, we also viewed storage and support areas, as well as the
former Launch Control Center, where the crew lived, ate, and slept as well as
standing a 24 hour watch ready at a moment’s notice to unleash hell. A small
display on civil defense equipment and supplies rounded out the tour. Uniquely,
this silo survived a direct hit by the Windsor tornado in 2008, sustaining only
surface structure damage.
The
Atlas missile program was operational from 1961 to 1964. “Squadrons” of 27
missiles each were located throughout Northern Colorado and Wyoming, with four
Atlas sites being located in Weld County. 82 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter,
the Atlas missile weighed just over 18,000lbs empty. When filled with fuel, the
missile’s gross weight was 267,000lbs, which meant that 99% of its weight was
fuel. The skin of the missile was so thin that it would not support its own
empty weight and would collapse if not supported. The rocket generated more
thrust horsepower than Niagara Falls, and burned more fuel in its first 20
seconds of flight than a DC-7 airliner flying from New York to Los Angeles. The
Atlas ICBM was preceded by the Titan series of ballistic missile, and succeeded
by the Minuteman I, II, and III. Many Minuteman silos remain on active duty
today.
Check
out the pics!
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| Atlas-E silo in its heyday. |
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| The missile loading door, which faces north. |
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| 566th Squadron insignia |
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| Since the real missile had been removed, this plywood facsimile was built in its place. |
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| Access tunnel to Launch Control Center. |
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| A wily band of hardy adventurers. |
